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NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION ILLUSTRATED.
JOHN G. PATON,
MISSIONARY TO THE NEW HEBRIDES.
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
EDITED BY HIS BROTHER.
With an Introduction by ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
Two vols, in box, izmo, cloth, gilt top net #2.00.
ministerial Commendation.
" I have just laid down the most robust and the most
fascinating piece of autobiography that I have met
with in many a day. . . . John G. Paton was made
of the same stuff with Livingstone." — Theodore L.
Cuyler, D.D.
" I consider it unsurpassed in missionary biography.
In the whole course of my extensive reading on these
topics, a more stimulating, inspiring, and every way
first-class book has not fallen into my hands. Every-
body ought to read it." — Arthur T. Pierson, D.D.
fBXssionarB Tpraise.
"I have never read a romance that was half so
thrilling." — Lucius C. Smith, Guanajuato, Mexico.
" I have ne-er read a more inspiring biography."—
Thomas C. Winn, Yokohama, Japan.
" The Lord's work will not go back while there are
such men as he in the church. ''—James A. Heal, Sing
Kong, Cheh Kiang, China.
" I think I have never had greater pleasure in read-
ing any book." — R. Thackswell, Dehra, North India.
lpreaa IRotices.
" Perhaps the most important addition for many
years to the library of missionary literature is the auto-
biography of John G. Paton." — The Christian Advocate.
" We commend to all who would advance the cause
of Foreign Missions this remarkable autobiography.
It stands with such books as those Dr. Livingstone
gave the world, and shows to men that the heroes of
the cross are not merely to be sought in past ages."
— The Christian Intelligencer.
Fleming H. Revell Company,
j New York, 30 Union Square, E.
I Chicago, 148 & 150 Madison Street.
JOHN G. PATON,
MISSIONARY TO THE
NEW HEBRIDES
#n #utobiograpt)£*
EDITED BY HIS BROTHER.
SECOND PART.
ifrew 3Mu£ttateb €bmon.
Fleming H. Revell Company
PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK CHICAGO
80 Union Square, East. 148-150 Madison Street.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D.
THE avidity with which Part I. of Mr. Paton's
remarkable life-story was received by the
public in England has been no surprise. Before
this second part was issued from the press, three
thousand copies were already sold ; and the entire
edition of five thousand was so soon exhausted that
it has been impossible to cope with the demand.
We have no hesitation in pronouncing this second
part the most fascinating narrative of missionary
adventure and heroism and success that we have
ever met. This volume abounds in poetry and
pathos, dramatic incident and thrilling experience,
lit up by the golden rays of a delicate and unique
humor. It reminds one of a varied landscape with
bold mountains and modest valleys, where snow-
crowned summits look down on summer gardens ;
where cascades fall into quiet streams, and where
all the marvels of light and shade at once relieve
and diversify the scene. The twenty-two miles'
gallop through the Australian Bush on the back
of Garibaldi, which made the inexperienced rider
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
drunk with excitement and fatigue ; the Ariwan
woman who, judging clothes an evidence of a new
heart, approved her decided conversion by coming
into chapel having her person grotesquely adorned
with every article of male attire which she could beg
or borrow, may illustrate the comical side of this
charming story. The three years of progress among
cannibals, in laying foundations of Christian families,
schools, churches, and even social order, may serve
as one of the greatest vindications, through all
history, of that Gospel which is still the power of
God and the wisdom of God unto salvation.
PREFACE.
IT is a true joy to me, that I am enabled to
place Part Second of my brother's Auto-
biography in the hands of the Public without
undue delay.
The amount of interesting and precious
material, entrusted to me to be re-written and
prepared for the Press, has, by its very abun-
dance and variety, landed me in the greatest
perplexity. Amidst all the toil and anxiety
of producing such a book, my only painful
experience has been the necessity of cutting
out page after page, every whit as beautiful
and valuable as any of the pages for which
room has been found.
That observation applies very specially to
the "Letters," which constitute Chapter IX.
These I verily regret to publish in mere frag-
vi PREFACE.
ments, instead of in their own rounded com-
pleteness.
Two whole Chapters, as outlined by my
brother, I am sorrowfully necessitated to omit,
so that the Life-Story itself may not be too
much enlarged or overloaded. The one refers
to "The Kanaka, or Labour Traffic in the
South Seas " ; and the other to " Annexation,
and the Future of the New Hebrides." Both
are of vital import among the Public Questions
of the day ; and, in the discussion of both, his
position and opportunities have led him to take
a not inconsiderable share. But the claims of
what may more properly be regarded as the
Personal Narrative were paramount ; and the
allotted space, within the limits of this volume,
left me, for the present at least, no other choice.
Readers would think me foolishly uplifted,
if I indicated one-hundredth part of the chorus
of approbation, that has reached me regarding
Part First of this Autobiography. My best
wish for the Second Volume is that it may be
similarly welcomed; and that it may bring a
PREFACE. vii
special blessing to as many hearts in all quarters
of the world. More than that I could not
reasonably anticipate.
James Paton,
Editor,
Glasgow,
October, T889.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING.
PAGE
Preliminary Note I
Call for a Mission Ship 2
A Brutal Captain 3
Sun-Worshippers, or Slaves ? 5
The Lights of Sydney 6
Thrown upon the Lord 7
Mr. Foss's Open Door 8
Climbing into Pulpits 9
Shipping Company for Jesus io
The Golden Shower 12
Wanted ! More Missionaries 13
Commissioned to Scotland 14
Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel ... 16
Lost in the Bush 17
Sinking in the Swamp 21
Put through my Catechism 23
" Do for the Parson ! " 24
Crossing the Colony on Novel Conditions ... 25
Pay-Day at a Squatter's 29
Three Days in a Public House 31
A Meeting among the Diggers 35
Camping Out yj
A Squatter Rescued 39
John Gilpin's Ride through the Bush .... 40
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
PAGE
A Fire- Water Festival ...... 47
At Tea with the Aborigines 48
" Black Fellow all Gone ! ■ 50
The Poison-Gift of Civilization 51
The "Scattering "of the Blacks 52
The " Brute-in-human-shape " Theory ... 54
The Testimony of Nora ... • • 55
Nathaniel Pepper and their " Gods " . ... 57
Smooth Stone Idols 58
Rites and Ceremonies • 59
" Too Much Devil-Devil " 60
The Quest for Idols 61
Visit to Nora in the Camp 63
Independent Testimonies 65
Nora's own Letters 68
The Aborigines in Settlements 71
CHAPTER III.
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis ..... 73
Casting Lots before the Lord 74
Struck by Lightning 75
A Peep at London 76
A Heavenly Welcome 77
The Moderator's Chair 78
Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church . 80
Tour through Scotland 82
A Frosted Foot 83
The Children's Holy League 84
Missionary Volunteers 85
A God-provided Help-Mate 86
Farewell to the Old Family Altar . . . .88
First Peep at the Dayspring ..... 90
CONTENTS.
The Day 'spring in a Dead- Lock .
Tokens of Deliverance . . .
The John Williams and the Day spring
Australia's Special Call . . •
PAGF
9*
93
95
98
CHAPTER IV.
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
First of Missionary Duties ....«» 100
Mare* and Noumea 101
The French in the Pacific 103
The Curagoa Affair 104
The " Gospel and Gunpowder " Cry . . . .105
The Missionaries on their Defence .... 106
The Mission Synod's Report 107
The Shelling of the Tannese Villages . . .109
Public Meeting and Presbytery Ill
Fighting at Bay . .114
Federal Union in Missions 115
A Fiery Furnace at Geelong 1 16
Results of Australian Tour 119
New Hebrides Mission Adopted by Colonies . . 120
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT ON AN1WA.
The John Williams on the Reef
A Native's Soliloquy .
Nowar Pleading for Tanna
The White Shells of Nowar
The Island of Aniwa .
First Landing on Aniwa
The Site of our New Home
"Me no Steal!".
House-Building for God
123
124
125
126
127
129
130
131
132
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Native Expectations ..,,... 135
Tafigeitu or Sorcery 136
The Miracle of Speaking Wood 138
Perils through Superstition 139
The Mission Premises — a City of God . . . 141
Builders and their Wages 142
Great Swimming Feat ...... 144
Stronger than the " Gods " of Aniwa .... 145
CHAPTER VI.
PACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa .... 149
Taia the " Orator " 150
The Two next Aneityumese Teachers . . . 151
In the Arms of Murderers 152
Our First Aniwan Converts 153
Litsi Sore" 153
Surrounded by Torches 1 55
Traditions of Creation, Fall, and Deluge . . . 156
Infanticide and Wife-Murder 159
Last Heathen Dance 162
Nelwang's Elopement . . . . . .163
Yakin's Bridal Attire 169
Christ-Spirit versus War-Spirit 171
Heathenism in Death Grips 174
A Great Aniwan Palaver 175
The Sinking of the Well 176
Old Chiefs Sermon on " Rain from Below " . .189
The Idols Cast Away 192
The New Social Order 194
Back of Heathenism Broken 196
CHAPTER VII.
THE LIGHT THA T SHINE TH MORE AND MORE,
My First Aniwan Book 198
The Power of Music 201
CONTENTS.
PAGE
A Pair of Glass Eyes 202
Church Building for Jesus ...... 203
The Hanging of the Bell 206
Patesa and his Bride 207
An Armed Embassage 210
Youwili's Taboo 212
The Conversion of Youwili 216
The Tobacco Idol 218
First Communion on Aniwa 221
Our Village Day Schools 223
New Social Laws 225
A Sabbath Day's Work on Aniwa .... 226
Our Week-Day Life 229
The Orphans and their Biscuits . . . . .231
The Wreck of the Dayspring 233
God's Own Finger Posts 234
" God's Work our Guarantee " 235
Profane Swearers Rebuked 237
A Heavenly Vision 238
On Wing through New Zealand . . . 239
Our Second Dayspring 240
CHAPTER VIII.
PEN PORTRAITS OF AM WANS.
The Gospel in Living Capitals . . . . .241
"A Shower of Spears" ...... 243
The Tannese Refugees ...... 244
Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei .... 245
The Character of Naswai 250
Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts 254
Nerwa the Agnostic 255
Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell . . . . .258
The Story of Ruwawa ....... 260
Waiwai and his Wives 262
Nelwang and Kalangi ....... 268
CONTENTS.
Mungaw and Litsi Sore* . .
The Maddening of Mungaw
The Queen of Anivva a Missionary
Surrender of Nasi to Jesus .
Daylight Prayer Meeting on Aniwa
Candidates for Baptism
The Appeal and Testimony of Lamu
PAGE
270
271
275
277
280
281
282
CHAPTER IX
LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
Editorial Preface .285
Letter for 1867 . . .286
Not Tanna but Aniwa 287
" Missi Paton versus Teapots " 288
The Humour of Taia 288
Evening Village Prayers 289
"Make Him Bofo's sing ■ 289
My Sewing Class 289
" That No Gammon " 290
" Talk Biritania " 290
The Marriage of Kahi 291
Letter for 1869 292
First Communicants on Aniwa 292
Mungaw and the Mission Boys 293
The Blessing of the Day spring 294
Letter for 1874 294
Home to Aniwa 295
"Taking Possession" 296
" Another Soul Committed to our Care " . . 296
Hutshi and her Lover 297
Six Missionaries on Aniwa 298
Letter for 1875 299
Missi Paton and " Joseph," and the Tannese . . 300
A Tropical Hurricane 3QI
The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi . . , . 3°3
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Taia Baited by Nalihi 308
Earthquakes and Tidal Waves 310
Farewells 311
Letter for 1878 312
A Madman at Large 312
The Passing of Yawaci 324
Madness and Death of Mungaw 325
Our Native Elders 334
Music on the Waters 335
A Wicked Vow 335
Letter for 1879 336
New Year's Day on Aniwa 336
A Miserable Slaver ....... 337
Litsi Married Again 337
Mission Synod on Erromanga 338
Tragic and Holy Memories 339
Daylight at last on Tanna 340
Pigs in Galore 341
Arrowroot for Jehovah 341
CHAPTER X.
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
" Wanted ! A Steam Auxiliary " 342
Commissioned Home to Britain .
343
English Presbyterian Synod
344
United Presbyterian Synod
. 34*
The " Veto " from the Sydney Board .
34 S
Dr. Hood Wilson ....
347
The Free Church Assembly
348
Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee
■ 349
The Church of Scotland ....
35o
At Holyrood and at Alva House. ,
3">i
Irish Presbyterian Assembly
3S2
The Pan-Presbyterian Council of 1884
3M
My " Plan of Campaign " . . . ,
354
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Old Ireland's Response . . . . . • 355
Operations in Scotland 356
Seventy Letters in a Day 358
Beautiful Type of Merchant 359
My First ^100 at Dundee 360
Peculiar Gifts and Offerings 361
Approach to London 364
Mildmay's Open Door 366
Largest Single Donation 367
Personal Memories of London 368
Garden Party at Mr. Spurgeon's .... 370
The Hon. Ion Keith- Falconer 371
Three New Missionaries 372
"Restitution Money" 375
The Farewell at Mildraay 376
Welcome to Victoria 377
The Dream of my Life 378
The New Mission Ship Delayed .... 378
Welcome back to Aniwa 379
Parting Testimony ....... 380
Fare-thee-well 382
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Mission House At Anivva ..... Frontispiece.
" All The Natives Within Reach Assembled '•" To face p. 129
I Want You to Train Listi for Jesus . . . " 153
" Oh, My New Eyes" " 203
" I'll Knock the Tevil Out of Him " . 211
CHAPTER I.
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING*
Preliminary Note.— Call for a Mission Ship.— A Brutal Captain
— Sun- Worshippers or Slaves ?— The Lights of Sydney.—
Thrown upon the Lord. — Mr. Foss's Open Door. — Climbing
into Pulpits. — Shipping Company for Jesus. — The Golden
Shower. — Wanted More Missionaries. — Commissioned to
Scotland. — Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel. — Lost
in the Bush. — Sinking in the Swamp.— Put Through My
Catechism. — " Do for the Parson 1 " — Crossing the Colony
on Novel Conditions. — Pay-Day at a Squatter's.— Three
Days in a Public House.— A Meeting among the Diggers.
— Camping Out.— A Squatter Rescued.— John Gilpin's
Ride through the Bush.
STRANGE yet gratifying news has reached me.
Part First of my Autobiography has met with a
wonderful response from the Public. Within three
weeks of its appearance, a second edition has been
called for.
At the Editor's urgent appeal, therefore, and as-
sured also that the ringer of God is guiding me, I
take up my pen to write Part Second, feeling that
1 am bound to do so by my promise at the close of
the first volume, and by loyalty to the Lord, who
seems thus to use my humble life-story to promote
the glory of His Name both at home and abroad.
P. x I
2 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
But, oh, surely never any man was called upon to
write a book amid such distracting circumstances !
Ceaselessly travelling from Church to Church and
from town to town from one end of Australia to the
other, — addressing a meeting almost every evening
of the week, often also during the afternoons, and
several Congregations and Sabbath Schools every
Lord's Day, — the following pages are the outpourings
of a heart saturated with the subject, but bereft of
all opportunity for quiet thought or studious hours.
Having thus far done my part, I leave all else to
the careful Editorship of my dear brother, whose
loving hand will put everything into shape for the
public eyes. This only I can sincerely testify, — The
Lord has called for it, and I lay on His altar the
only gift that I have to offer, believing that He will
both accept it and use it as He sees to be for the
best. *
* *
Rescued from Tanna by the Blue Bell in the
Spring of 1862, I was landed on Aneityum, leaving
behind me all that I owned on Earth, save the clothes
upon my back, my precious Bible, and a few trans-
lations that I had made from it into the Tannest
language. The Missionaries on Aneityum — Messrs.
Geddie and Copeland — united, after repeated delibera-
tions, in urging me to go to Australia in the interests
of our Mission. In this appeal they were joined
now by my companions in tribulation, Mr. and Mrs.
Mathieson. A Mission Ship was sorely needed — was
THE FLOATING OF THE « DAYSPRING." 3
absolutely required, to prevent the needless sacrifice
of devoted lives. More Missionaries were called for,
and must somehow be brought into the field, unless
the hope of claiming these fair Islands for Jesus was
to be for ever abandoned.
With unaffected reluctance, I at last felt constrained
to undertake this unwelcome but apparently inevit-
able task. It meant the leaving of my dear Islanders
for a season ; but it embraced within it the hope of
returning to them again, with perhaps every power
of blessing amongst them tenfold increased.
A Sandal-wooder, then lying at Aneityum, was to
sail in a few days direct for Sydney. My passage
was secured for £10. And, as if to make me realize
how bare the Lord had stripped me in my late trials,
the first thing that occupied me on board was the
making with my own hands, from a piece of cloth
obtained on Aneityum, another shirt for the voyage,
to change with that which I wore — the only one that
had been left to me.
The Captain proved to be a profane and brutal
fellow. He professed to be a Roman Catholic, but
he was typical of the coarse and godless Traders in
those Seas. If he had exerted himself to make the
voyage disagreeable, and even disgusting, he could
scarcely have had better success. He frequently
fought with the mate and steward, and his tyrannical
bearing made every one wretched. He and his
Native wife (a Heathen — but not more so than him-
self!) occupied the Cabin. I had to sleep on boards,
4 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
without a bed, in a place where they stored the
sandal-wood ; and never could take off my clothes
by night or day during that voyage of nearly fourteen
hundred miles. The vessel was miserably supplied.
Any food I got was scarcely eatable, and was sent
to me in a plate on deck. There I spent all my
time, except at night or in heavy rain, when I crept
in and lay upon my planks.
The poor steward often came rushing on deck from
the cabin, with blood streaming from his face, struck
by the passionate Captain with whatever came to his
hand. Yet he appeared to be a smart and obliging
lad, and I pitied him exceedingly. Seeing no hope
for redress, I took careful notes of his shocking treat-
ment, and resolved to bide my time for exposing
this base and cruel inhumanity.
On reaching Sydney, the steward was dismissed
without wages, — the Captain having accused him to
his employers of refusing to work on board. He
found me out, and told me, weeping, that he cared
more for his poor aged mother than himself, as his
pay was all her support. On my advice, he informed
the Captain that he would summon him, and that I
had consented to appear in Court and produce my
notes of what I had seen, day by day, on the voyage.
He was immediately paid in full, and came to me
big with gratitude.
One hesitates to dwell further on this miserable
episode. But I must relate how my heart bled for
some poor Islanders also, whom that Captain had on
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRJNG" 5
board. They knew not a word of English, and no
one in the vessel knew a sound of their language.
They were made to work, and to understand what
was expected of them, only by hard knocks and
blows, being pushed and pulled hither and thither.
They were kept quite naked on the voyage up ; but,
when nearing Sydney, each received two yards of
calico to be twisted as a kilt around his loins. A
most pathetic spectacle it was to watch these poor
Natives, — when they had leisure to sit on deck, —
gazing, gazing, intently and imploringly, upon the
face of the Sun ! This they did every day, and at
all hours, and I wept much to look on them, and not
be able to tell them of the Son of God, the Light of
the world, for I knew no word of their language.
Perhaps they were worshippers of the Sun ; and
perhaps, amid all their misery, oh, perhaps, some ray
of truth from the great Father of Lights may have
streamed into those darkened souls !
When we arrived at Sydney, the Inspecting Officer
of the Government, coming on board, asked how
these Islanders came to be there. The Captain im-
pudently replied that they were " passengers." No
further question was put. No other evidence was
sought. Yet all who knew anything of our South-
Sea Island Traders were perfectly aware that the
moral certainty was that these Natives were there
practically as Slaves. They would be privately dis-
posed of by the Captain to the highest bidder ; and
that, forsooth, is to be called the Labour Traffic.
6 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG."
About midnight we came to anchor in Sydney har-
bour. The Captain condescended to say, " I will not
drive you ashore to-night, but you must be off by
daylight." His orders might have been spared. It
was too great a relief to get away from such coarse-
ness and profanity.
As we came to anchorage, I anxiously paced the
deck, gazing towards the gas-lighted city, and plead-
ing with God to open up my way, and give success
in the work before me, on which the salvation of
thousands of the Heathen might depend. Still I saw
them perishing, still heard their wailing cry on the
Islands behind me. I saw them groaning under
blinding superstitions, and imbruing their hands in
each other's blood, and I felt as if crushed by the
awful responsibility of my work and by the thought
of all that hung upon its success or failure. But I
felt also that there must be many of God's dear
people in Sydney who would sympathize with such
work and help me, if only I could get access to them.
At the same time, I knew not a soul in that great
city ; though I had a note of introduction to one
person, which, as experience proved, I would have
been better without.
Unfortunately, I had not with me a copy of the
Resolution of the Missionaries, commissioning me to
plead their cause and to raise funds for the new
Mission Ship. Again and again I had earnestly
requested it, but the Clerk of the meeting, pressed by
correspondence, or for some other reason, gave me
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING." J
instead that note of introduction, which proved more
of a hindrance than a help in launching my work ;
except that it threw me more exclusively on the
guidance of my Lord, and taught me to trust in Him,
and in the resources He had given me, rather than
in any human aid, from that day till the present hour.
That friend, however, did his best. He kindly
called with me on a number of Ministers and others.
They heard my story, sympathized with me, shook
hands, and wished me success ; but, strangely enough,
something " very special " prevented every one of
them from giving me access to his pulpit or Sabbath
School. At length, I felt so disappointed, so miser-
able, that I wished I had been in my grave with my
dear departed and my brethren on the Islands who
had fallen around me, in order that the work on
which so much now appeared to depend might have
been entrusted to some one better fitted to accom-
plish it. The heart seemed to keep repeating, " All
these things are against thee."
Finding out at last the Rev. A. Buzacott, then
retired, but formerly the successful and honoured
representative of the London Missionary Society on
Rarotonga, considerable light was let in upon the
mysteries of my last week's experiences. He in-
formed me that the highly esteemed friend, who had
kindly been introducing me all round, was at that
moment immersed in a keen Newspaper war with
Presbyterians and Independents. He had published
statements and changes of view, which charged them
8 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
with being unscriptural in belief and practice. They,
of course, were rigorously defending themselves.
This made it painfully manifest that, in order to
succeed, I must strike out a new course for myself,
and one clear from all local entanglement.
Paying a fortnight in advance, I withdrew even
from the lodging I had taken, and turned to the Lord
more absolutely for guidance. He brought me into
contact with good and generous-souled servants of
His, the open-hearted Mr. and Mrs. Foss. Though
entire strangers, they kindly invited me to be their
guest while in Sydney, assuring me that I would meet
with many Ministers and other Christians at their
house who could help me in my work. God had
opened the door ; I entered with a grateful heart ;
they will not miss their recompence.
A letter and appeal had been already printed on
behalf of our Mission. I now re-cast and reprinted it,
adding a postscript, and appending my own name
and new address. This was widely circulated among
Ministers and others engaged in Christian work ; and
by this means, and by letters in the Newspapers, I
did everything in my power to make our Mission
known. But one week had passed, and no response
came. One Lord's Day had gone by, and no pulpit
had been opened to me. I was perplexed beyond
measure, how to get access to Congregations and
Sabbath Schools; though a Something deep in my
soul assured me, that if once my lips were opened,
the Word of the Lord would not return void.
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG." 9
On my second Sabbath in Sydney, I wandered
out with a great yearning at heart to get telling
my message to any soul that would listen. It was
the afternoon ; and children were flocking into a
Church that I passed. I followed them — that yearn-
ing growing stronger every moment. My God so
ordered it, that I was guided thus to the Chalmers
Presbyterian Church. The Minister, the Rev. Mr.
McSkimming, addressed the children. At the close
I went up and pleaded with him to allow me ten
minutes to speak to them. After a little hesitation,
and having consulted together, they gave me fifteen
minutes. Becoming deeply interested, the good
man invited me to preach to his Congregation in the
evening. This was duly intimated in the Sabbath
School ; and thus my little boat was at last launched
— surely by the hand of the dear Lord, with the help
of His little children.
The kindly Minister, now very deeply interested,
offered to spend the next day in introducing me to
his clerical brethren. For his sake, I was most cor-
dially received by them all, but especially by Dr.
Dunsmore Lang, who greatly helped me ; and now
access was granted me to almost every Church and
Sabbath School, both Presbyterian and Independent.
In Sabbath Schools, I got a collection in connection
with my address, and distributed, with the sanction
of Superintendents, Collecting Cards amongst the
children, to be returned through the teachers within
a specified date. In Congregations, I received for
io THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
the Mission the surplus over and above the ordinary
collection when I preached on Sabbaths, and the full
collection at all week-night meetings for which I
could arrange.
I now appealed to a few of the most friendly
Ministers to form themselves into an Honorary
Committee of advice ; and, at my earnest request,
they got J. Goodlet, Esq., an excellent elder, to be-
come Honorary Treasurer, and to take charge of all
funds raised for the Mission Ship. For the Public
knew nothing of me ; but all knew my good Trea-
surer and these faithful Ministers, and had confidence
in the work. They knew that every penny went
direct to the Mission ; and they saw that my one
object was to promote God's glory in the conversion
of the Heathen. Our dear Lord Jesus thus opened
■ up my way, and now I had invitations from more
Schools and Congregations than I knew how to
overtake — the response in money being also gratify-
ing beyond almost all expectation.
It was now that I began a little plan of interesting
the children, that attracted them from the first, and
has since had an amazing development. I made
them shareholders in the new Mission Ship — each
child receiving a printed form, in acknowledgment
of the number of shares, at sixpence each, of which
he was the owner. Thousands of these shares were
taken out, were shown about amongst families, and
were greatly prized. The Ship was to be their very
own I They were to be a great Shipping Company
THE FLOATING OF THE ** DAYSPMNG." II
for Jesus. In hundreds of homes, these receipt-forms
have been preserved ; and their owners, now in
middle years, are training their children of to-day to
give their pennies to support the white-winged Angel
of the Seas, that bears the Gospel and the Missionary
to the Heathen Isles.
Let no one think me ungrateful to my good
Treasurer and his wife, to Dr. and Mrs. Moon, and to
other dear friends who generously helped me, when
I trace step by step how the Lord opened up my
way. The Angel of His Presence went before me,
and wonderfully moved His people to contribute
in answer to my poor appeals. I had indeed to
make all my own arrangements, and correspond re-
garding all engagements and details, — to me, always
a slow and laborious writer, a very burdensome
task. But it was all necessary in order to the fulfil-
ment of the Lord's purposes ; and, to one who realizes
that he is a fellow-labourer with Jesus, every yoke
that He lays on becomes easy and every burden
light
Having done all that could at that time be accom-
plished in New South Wales, and as rapidly as
possible, my Committee gave me a Letter of Com-
mendation to Victoria. But there I had no difficulty.
The ministers had heard of our work in Sydney.
They received me most cordially, and at my request
formed themselves into a Committee of Advice. Our
dear friend, James McBain, Esq., now Sir James,
became Honorary Treasurer. All moneys from this
12 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
Colony, raised by my pleading for the Ship, were
entrusted to him ; and, ultimately, the acknowledging
of every individual sum cost much time and labour.
Dr. Cairns, and many others now gone to their rest,
along with several honoured Ministers yet living,
formed my Committee. The Lord richly reward
them all in that Day !
As in New South Wales, I made all my own
engagements, and arranged for Churches and
Sabbath Schools as best I could. Few in the other
Denominations of Victoria gave any help, but the
Presbyterians rose to our appeal as with one heart.
God moved them by one impulse ; and Ministers,
Superintendents, Teachers and Children heartily
embraced the scheme as their own. I addressed
three or four meetings every Sabbath, and one or
more every week-day ; and thus travelled over the
length and breadth of Victoria, Tasmania, and South
Australia. Wheresoever a few of the Lord's people
could be gathered together, thither I gladly went,
and told the story of our Mission, setting forth its
needs and claims.
The contributions and collections were nearly all
in very small sums. I recall only one exception, —
a gift of £250 from the late Hon. G. F. Angus,
South Australia, whose heart the Lord had touched.
Yet gently and steadily the required money began
to come pouring in ; and my personal outlays were
reduced to a minimum by the hospitality of Christian
friends and their kindly conveying of me from place
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 13
to place. For all this I felt deeply grateful ; it saved
money for the Lord's work.
Each of my Treasurers, to whom all contributions
were sent direct, kept me duly posted as to sums
received from time to time. The progress made soon
led on to the resolution to aim at a Ship three times
the size of that originally proposed. We set apart
the sum of £3,000 as necessary for it ; and I vowed,
in my solitude, that if God sent an additional £800
within a given time, that would be my Gideon's
fleece, and would warrant me in going home to
Scotland to secure more Missionaries for the Islands.
By this time, I had heard of the death of my dear
fellow-labourers, Mrs. Mathieson on Aneityum, and
shortly thereafter Mr. Mathieson on Mare\ I alone
was now left to tell the story of the planting of the
Standard on Tanna, — our Mission numbered then
only four agents in the field, — and the thought arose,
Why keep a Mission Vessel for so few ? The resolu-
tion was, therefore, taken in God's Name to get more
Missionaries too. But this, as yet, was betwixt my
own soul and the Lord.
The work was unceasingly prosecuted. Meetings
were urged upon me now from every quarter. Money
flowed in so freely that, at the close of my tour, the
fund had risen to £5,000, including special Donations
of £300 for the support of Native Teachers. Many
Sabbath Schools, and many ladies and gentlemen,
had individually promised the sum of £5 yearly to
keep a Native Teacher on one or other of the New
14 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING.
Hebrides Islands. This happy custom prevails still,
and is largely developed ; the sum required being
now £6 per annum at least — for which you may have
your own personal representative toiling among the
Heathen and telling them of Jesus.
Returning to Melbourne, the whole matter was
laid before my Committee. I reported how God had
blessed the undertaking, and what sums were now in
the hands of the several Treasurers, indicating also
what larger hopes and plans had been put into my
soul. Dear Dr. Cairns rose and said, " Sir, it is of
the Lord. This whole enterprise is of God, and not
of us. Go home, and He will give you more Mis-
sionaries for the Islands." My ever-honoured friends,
Dr. and Mrs. Inglis, had just returned to Melbourne
from Britain, where they had been carrying the com-
plete New Testament in Aneityumese through the
press. Dr. Inglis was present at that meeting, and
approved warmly of my going home for more
Missionaries, especially as from want of time and
opportunity he had not himself succeeded in getting
any additions to our Missionary staff.
Melbourne held a Farewell meeting. The Governor,
Sir Henry Barkley, took the chair. The Hall was
crowded ; and the Governor's sympathetic utterances
arrested public attention and deepened the interest
in our Mission. The fact was emphasized that this
work, lying at their very doors in the Pacific Seas,
had peculiar claims on the heart and conscience of
Australia.
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING: 1 5
Thence I hasted to Sydney, and reported myself
also there. The New South Wales Committee gave
their cordial approval to our larger plans. A Fare-
well was held there too ; and the Governor, Sir John
Young, took the chair. The meeting was a great
success. His presence, and his excellent speech,
again helped to fix the eyes of all Australians on the
peculiar claims of the New Hebrides. This was
their work, more than that of any other people on the
face of the Earth. The awakening of this conscious-
ness, and intensifying it into a practical and burning
faith, was a great and far-reaching achievement for
Australia and for the Islanders. It is one of the
purest joys of my life, that in this work I was
honoured to have some share, along with many other
dear servants of the Lord.
Of the money which I had raised, £3,000 were
sent to Nova Scotia, to pay for the building of our
new Mission Ship, the Dayspring. The Church
which began the Mission on the New Hebrides was
granted the honour of building its first Mission Ship.
The remainder was set apart to pay for the outfit
and passage of additional Missionaries for the field,
and I was commissioned to return home to Scotland
in quest of them. Dr. Inglis wrote, in vindication of
this enterprise, to the friends whom he had just left,
"From first to last, Mr. Paton's mission here has
been a great success ; and it has been followed up
with such energy and promptitude in Nova Scotia,
both in regard to the Ship and the Missionaries, that
16 THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING."
Mr. Paton's pledge to the Australian Churches has
been fully redeemed. The hand of the Lord has
been very visible in the whole movement from be-
ginning to end, and we trust He has yet great bless-
ing in store for the long and deeply degraded
Islanders."
Here let me turn aside from the current of Mis-
sionary toils, and record a few wayside incidents that
marked some of my wanderings to and fro in connec-
tion with the Floating of the Dayspring. Travelling
in the Colonies in 1862-63 was vastly less developed
than it is to-day ; and a few of my experiences then
will for many reasons be not unwelcome to most
readers of this book. ^Besides, these incidents, one
and all, will be felt to have a vital connection with
the main purpose of writing this Autobiography,
namely, to show that the Finger of God is as visible
still, to those who have eyes to see, as when the
fire-cloud Pillar led His People through the wilder-
ness.
Twenty-six years ago, the roads of Australia,
except those in and around the principal towns, were
mere tracks over unfenced plains and hills, and on
many of them packhorses only could be used in
slushy weather. During long journeys through the
bush, the traveller could find his road only by follow-
ing the deep notches, gashed by friendly precursors
into the larger trees, and all pointing in one direction.
If he lost his way, he had to struggle back to the last
indented tree, and try to interpret more correctly its
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." lj
pilgrim notch. Experienced bush-travellers seldom
miss the path ; yet many others, losing the track,
have wandered round and round till they sank and
died. For then, it was easy to walk thirty or forty
miles, and see neither a person nor a house. The
more intelligent do sometimes guide their steps by
sun, moon, and stars, or by glimpses of mountain
peaks or natural features on the far and high horizon,
or by the needle of the compass ; but the perils are
not illusory, and occasionally the most experienced
have miscalculated and perished.
An intelligent gentleman, a sheep farmer, who
knew the country well, once kindly volunteered to
lift me in an out-of-the-way place, and drive me to a
meeting at his Station. Having a long spell before
us, we started at midday in a buggy drawn by a pair
of splendid horses, in the hope of reaching our
destination before dusk. He turned into the usual
bush-track through the forests, saying, —
" I know this road well ; and we must drive
steadily, as we have not a moment to lose."
Our conversation became absorbingly interesting.
After we had driven about three hours, he re-
marked,—
" We must soon emerge into the open plain."
I doubtfully replied, "Surely we cannot have
turned back ! These trees and bushes are wonder-
fully like those we passed at starting."
He laughed, and made me feel rather vexed that I
had spoken, when he said, " I am too old a hand in
P. ?.
18 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING."
the bush for thatl I have gone this road many a
time before."
But my courage immediately revived, for I got
what appeared to me a glint of the roof of the Inn
beyond the bush, from which we had started at noon,
and I repeated, " I am certain we have wheeled, and
are back at the beginning of our journey ; but there
comes a Chinaman ; let us wait and inquire."
My dear friend learned, to his utter amazement,
that he had erred. The bush-track was entered upon
once more, and followed with painful care, as he
murmured, half to himself, "Well, this beats all
reckoning! I could have staked my life that this
was impossible."
Turning to me, he said, with manifest grief, " Our
meeting is done for 1 It will be midnight before we
can arrive."
The sun was beginning to set, as we reached the
thinly timbered ground. Ere dusk fell, he took his
bearings with the greatest possible care. Beyond the
wood, a vast plain stretched before us, where neither
fence nor house was visible, far as the eye could
reach. He drove steadily towards a far-distant point,
which was in the direction of his home. At last we
struck upon the wire fence that bounded his property.
The horses were now getting badly fagged ; and, in
order to save them a long round-about drive, he lifted
and laid low a portion of the fence, led his horses
cautiously over it, and, leaving it to be re-erected by
a servant next day, he started direct for the Statioa
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPKING." 19
That seemed a long journey too ; but it was for him
familiar ground ; and through amongst great patri-
archal trees here and there, and safely past dangerous
water-holes, we swung steadily on, reached his home
in safety, and had a joyous welcome. The household
had by this time got into great excitement over our
non-appearance. The expected meeting had, of
course, been abandoned hours ago ; and the people
were all gone, wondering in their hearts "whereto
this would grow ! "
At that time, in the depth of winter, the roads
were often wrought into rivers of mire, and at many
points almost impassable even for well-appointed
conveyances. In connection therewith, I had one
very perilous experience. I had to go from Clunes
to a farm in the Learmouth district. The dear old
Minister there, Mr. Downes, went with me to every
place where a horse could be hired ; but the owners
positively refused — they would sell, but they would
not hire, for the conveyance would be broken, and
the horse would never return alive ! Now, I was
advertised to preach at Learmouth, and must some-
how get over the nine miles that lay between. This
would have been comparatively practicable, were it
not that I carried with me an indispensable bag of
"curios," and a heavy bundle of clubs, arrows, dresses,
etc., from the Islands, wherewith to illustrate my
lectures and enforce my appeals. No one could be
hired to carry my luggage, nor could I get it sent
after me by coach on that particular way. There-
20 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPKING."
fore, seeing no alternative opening in my path, I
committed myself once more to the Lord, as in
harder trials before, shouldered my bundle of clubs,
lifted my heavy bag, and started off on foot. They
urged me fervently to desist ; but I heard a voice
repeating, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."
There came back to me also the old adage that had
in youthful difficulties spurred me on, " Where there's
a will, there's a way." And I thought that, with
these two in his heart, a Scotchman would not be
easily beaten.
When I found the road wrought into mire, and
dangerous, or impassable, I climbed the fence, and
waded along in the ploughed fields — though they
were nearly as bad. My bundle was changed from
shoulder to shoulder, and my bag from hand to hand,
till I became thoroughly tired of both. Pressing on,
however, I arrived at a wayside Public House, where
several roads met, and there I inquired the way to
Lear mouth, and how far it was. The Innkeeper,
pointing, answered, —
"This is the road. If you are on horseback, it
might be three to four miles just now, as your horse
is able to take it. If you are in a conveyance, with
a good horse, it might be six miles. And if you
are walking, it might be eight or ten miles, or even
more."
I said, " I am walking. How many English miles
Is it to Mr. Baird's farm ? "
He laughingly replied, "You will find it a long
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSFRING."
way indeed this dark night, considering the state of
the road, fenced in on both sides so that you cannot
get off."
I passed on, leaving my Job's comforter; but a
surly watch-dog got upon my track, and I had much
difficulty in keeping it from biting me. Its attacks,
renewed upon me again and again, had one good
effect, — they stirred up my spirits and made me
hasten on.
Having persevered along the Learmouth road, I
next met a company of men hastening on with a
bundle of ropes. They were on their way to relieve
a poor bullock, which by this time had almost dis-
appeared, sinking in the mire on the public highway !
They kindly pointed me to a light, visible through
the dusk. That was the farm at which I was to
stay, and they advised me to clear the fence, and
make straight for that light, as the way was good.
With thankful heart, I did so. The light was soon
lost to me, but I walked steadily on in the direction
thereof, to the best of my judgment. Immediately
I began to feel the ground all floating under me.
Then at every step I took, or tried to take, I sank
deeper and deeper, till at last I durst not move either
backward or forward. I was floundering in a deadly
swamp. I called out again and again, and "coo-ee-d"
with all my strength, but there came no reply. It
grew extremely dark, while I kept praying to God
for deliverance. About midnight, I heard two men
conversing, apparently at no very great distance.
22 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
I began " coo-ee-ing " again, but my strength was
failing. Fortunately, the night was perfectly calm.
The conversation ceased for a while ; but I kept on
crying for help. At length, I heard one voice remark
to the other, — "Some one is in the swamp." And
then a question came, " Who's there ? "
I answered, "A stranger. Oh, do help me ! "
Again a voice came through the darkness, " How
did you get in there ? "
And I feebly replied, " I have lost my way."
I heard the one say to the other : " I will go and
get him out, whoever he may be. We must not leave
him there ; he'll be dead before the morning. As
you pass by our door, tell my wife that I'm helping
some poor creature out of the swamp, and will be
home immediately."
He kept calling to me, and I answering his call
through the darkness, till, not without peril, he
managed to reach and aid me. Once I was safely
dragged out, he got my bag in his hand and slung
my clubs on his shoulder, and in a very short time
landed me at the farm, dripping and dirty and cold.
Had God not sent that man to save me, I must have
perished there, as many others have similarly perished
before. The farmer heartily welcomed me and kindly
ministered to all my needs. Though not yet gone to
rest, they had given up all hope of seeing me. I
heard the kind servant say to his mistress, —
" I don't know where he came from, or how far he
has carried his bundles ; but I got him stuck fast in
THE FLOATING OF THF "DAYSPR/NG." 23
the swamp, and my shoulder is already sore from
carrying his clubs ! "
A cup of warm tea restored me. The Lord gave
me a sound and blessed sleep. I rose next morning
wonderfully refreshed, though arms and shoulders
were rather sore with the burdens of yesterday. I
conducted three Services, and told the story of my
Mission, not without comfort and blessing ; and with
gratifying results in money. The people gave liber-
ally to the work.
One day, after this, I was driving a long distance
on the outside of a crowded coach. A grave and
sensible-looking Scotchman sat next me. He had
inquiringly marked me reading in silence, while all
around were conversing on matters of common in-
terest. At last, he queried, — " Are you a Minister ? "
I answered, "Yes."
" Where is your Church ? n
" I have no Church."
" Where are you placed ? "
" I am not placed in any charge now."
" Where is your home ? " .
* I have no home."
"Where have you come from ?"
aThe South Sea Islands."
"What are you doing in Australia?"
" Pleading the cause of the Mission.
" Are you a Presbyterian ? "
« I am."
Having gone through this Catechism to his satis-
24 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSFRING."
faction, a most interesting and profitable conversation
followed. When the time came for the payment of
fares, nothing would please but that I must allow
him to pay for me — some twenty-two shillings — which
he did with all his heart, protesting, —
"A joy to me, Sir, a great joy; I honour you for
your work's sake ! "
Thereafter, a Schoolmaster drove me a long dis-
tance across the country to Violet Town, where for
the night we had to stay at an Inn. We had a taste
of what Australian life really was, when the land
was being broken in. A company of wild and reck-
less men were carousing there at the time, and our
arrival was the signal for an outbreak of malicious
mischief. A powerful fellow, who turned out to be a
young Medical, rushed upon me as I left the con-
veyance, seized me by the throat, and shook me
roughly, shouting, —
" A parson, a parson ! I will do for the parson ! "
Others with great difficulty relieved me from his
grips, and dragged him away, cursing as if at his
mortal enemy.
After tea, we got into the only bedroom in the
house, available for two. The Teacher and I locked
ourselves in and barricaded the door, hearing in the
next room a large party of drunken men gambling
and roaring over their cards. By-and-by they
quarrelled and fought ; they smashed in and out of
their room, and seemed to be murdering each other ;
every moment we expected our door to come crashing
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPJihVG.u 25
in, as they were thrown or lurched against it. Their
very language made us tremble. One man in parti-
cular seemed to be badly abused ; he shouted that
they were robbing him of his money ; and he
groaned and cried for protection, all in vain. We
spent a sleepless and most miserable night. At four
in the morning I arose, and was glad to get away by
the early coach. My friend also left in his own
conveyance, and reached his home in safety. At
that period, it was not only painful but dangerous
for any decent traveller to stay at many of these
wayside Inns, in the new and rough country. Every
man lived and acted just as he pleased, doing that
which was right in his own eyes ; and Might was
Right.
After this, I made a Mission tour, in a somewhat
mixed and original fashion, right across the Colony
of Victoria, from Albury in New South Wales to
Mount Gambier in South Australia. I conducted
Mission Services almost every day, and three or more
every Sabbath, besides visiting all Sunday Schools
that could be touched on the way. When I reached
a gold-digging or township, where I had been unable
to get any one to announce a meeting, the first thing
I did on arriving was to secure some Church or Hall,
and, failing that, to fix on some suitable spot in the
open air. Then, I was always able to hire some one
to go round with the bell, and announce the meeting.
Few will believe how large were the audiences in
this way gathered together, and how very substantia)
26 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
was the help that thereby came to the Mission fund.
Besides, I know that much good was done to many
of those addressed ; for I have always, to this hour,
combined the Evangelist's appeal with the Mission-
ary's story, in all public addresses, whether on Sabbath
or other days. I tried to bring every soul to feel
personal duty and responsibility to the Lord Jesus,
for I knew that then they would rightly understand
the claims of the Heathen.
Wheresoever railway, steamboat, and coach were
available, I always used them ; but failing these, I
hired, or was obliged to friends of Missions for driving
me from place to place. On this tour, having reached
a certain place, from which my way lay for many
miles across the country where there was no public
conveyance, I walked to the nearest squatter's Station
and frankly informed the owner how I was situated ;
that I could not hire, and that I would like to stay
at his house all night, if he would kindly send me on
in the morning by any sort of trap to the next Station
on my list. He happened to be a good Christian
and a Presbyterian, and gave me a right cordial
welcome. A meeting of his servants was called,
which I had the pleasure of addressing. Next morn-
ing, he gave me .£20, and sent me forward with his
own conveyance, telling me to retain it all day, if
necessary.
On reaching the next squatter's Station, I found
the master also at home, and said, —
"I am a Missionary from the South Sea Islands. I
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 27
am crossing Victoria to plead the cause of the
Mission. I would like to rest here for an hour or
two. Could you kindly send me on to the next
Station by your conveyance ? If not, I am to keep
the last squatter's buggy, until I reach it."
Looking with a queer smile at me, he replied, —
" You propose a rather novel condition on which to
rest at my house ! My horses are so employed to-
day, I fear that I may have difficulty in sending you
on. But come in ; both you and your horses need
rest ; and my wife will be glad to see you."
I immediately discovered that the good lady came
from Glasgow, from a street in which I had lodged
when a student at the Free Normal College. I even
knew some of her friends. All the places of her
youthful associations were equally familiar to me.
We launched out into deeply interesting conversa-
tion, which finally led up, of course, to the story of
our Mission.
The gentleman, by this time, had so far been won,
that he slipped out and sent my conveyance and
horses back to their owner, and ordered his own to
be ready to take me to the next Station, or, if need
be, to the next again. At parting, the lady said to
her husband, —
"The Missionary has asked no money, though he
sees we have been deeply interested ; yet clearly that
is the object of his tour. He is the first Missionary
from the Heathen that ever visited us here ; and you
must contribute something to his Mission fund."
«8 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
I thanked her, explaining, " I never ask money
directly from any person for the Lord's work. My
part is done when I have told my story and shown
the needs of the Heathen and the claims of Christ ;
but I gratefully receive all that the Lord moves His
people to give for the Mission."
Her husband replied, rather sharply, " You know
I don't keep money here."
To which she retorted with ready tact and with
a resistless smile, " But you keep a cheque book ; and
your cheque is as good as gold ! This is the first
donation we ever gave to such a cause, and let it be
a good one."
He made it indeed handsome, and I went on my
way, thanking them very sincerely, and thanking
God.
At the next Station, the owner turned out to be a
gruff Irishman, forbidding and insolent. Stating my
case to him as to the others, he shouted at me, " Go
on ! I don't want to be troubled with the loikes o'
you here."
I answered, " I am sorry if my coming troubles
you ; but I wish you every blessing in Christ Jesus.
Good-bye ! "
As we drove off, he shouted curses after us. On
leaving his door, I heard a lady calling to him from
the window: "Don't let that Missionary go away!
Make haste and call him back. I want the children
to see the idols and the South Sea curios."
At first he drowned her appeal in his own shout-
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG." 29
ings. But she must have persisted effectually ; for
shortly we heard him " coo-ee-ing," and stopped.
When he came up to us, he explained : " That lady
in my house heard you speaking in Melbourne. The
ladies and children are very anxious to see your
idols, dresses, and weapons. Will you please come
back?"
We did so. I spent fifteen minutes or so, giving
them information about the Natives and our Mission.
As I left, our boisterous friend handed me a cheque
for £$, and wished me great success !
The next Station at which we arrived was one of
the largest of all. It happened to be a sort of pay
day, and men were assembled from all parts of the
run, and were to remain there over night. The
squatter and his family were from home ; but Mr.
Todd, the overseer, being a good Christian and a
Scotchman, was glad to receive us, arranged to hold
a meeting that evening in the men's hut, and promised
to set me forward on my journey next day. The
meeting was very enthusiastic ; and they subscribed
;£20 to the Mission — every man being determined to
have so many shares in the new Mission Ship. With
earnest personal dealing, I urged the claims of the
Lord Jesus upon all who were present, seeking the
salvation of every hearer. I ever found even the
rough digger, and the lowest of the hands about far-
away Stations, most attentive and perfectly respect-
ful.
To the honour of Australia I must here record,
30 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
that anything like uncivil treatment was a rare ex-
ception in all my travels. Sometimes, indeed, I have
suspected that people were acting as if to say, Let
us treat him kindly, do as little for his cause as we
can, and get rid of him as quickly as possible! But, as
a rule, almost without an exception, I have met with
remarkable kindness, hospitality, and help from all
the Ministers and people of Australia. Scarcely ever,
at any place visited, was I without one or more
invitations to be guest of some of the Lord's people ;
and I was there treated as a dear friend of the family,
rather than a passing stranger. Colonials, indeed,
are proverbial for the open door and the generous
hand to pilgrims by the way. May the Divine
Master grant them evermore of His own Spirit, with
His ever- enriching blessings on their Souls and in
their homes !
Disappointments and successes were strangely in-
termingled. Once I travelled a very long way to con-
duct a meeting at a certain township. I had written
pleading with the Minister to make due intimation ;
but he had informed no person of my intended visit,
neither had he written to me, which he could easily
have done. When I arrived, he met me on horse-
back, said, " I have arranged no meeting here," and
instantly rode away. Only two coaches weekly
passed that way, so I had to remain there at a Public
House for the next three days. Drinking and noise,
of course, abounded ; but they kindly gave me a
small back room, as far away as possible, and looking
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSFMNG." 31
out into a quiet garden. It was to cost me thirteen
shillings and sixpence per day ; and there I sat
patiently and somewhat sadly working up my heavy
correspondence. The district was rich, and I knew
that there were pious as well as wealthy people
there, who could have been interested in our Mission
and would have helped me, — hence my keen dis-
appointment.
On the afternoon of the second day, I saw a beau-
tiful garden from my bedroom window, wherein a
considerable party of ladies, gentlemen, and hand-
somely dressed children were disporting in happy
amusements. Thinking that they were growing
tired, and might not object to a little variety, I sum-
moned courage to walk up and ask for the gentleman
of the house. I told him that I was a Missionary
from the South Sea Islands and had come here to
address a meeting, and how I had been disappointed ;
that I was staying at the Public House till the next
Mail passed inland, and that I had there some
Heathen idols, clubs, dresses, and "curios," which
perhaps the ladies and children would like to see,
and to hear a little about the Lord's work on the
Islands. I explained also that I asked no money
and received no reward, but only wished an oppor-
tunity of interesting them in this work of God.
He consulted the company. They were eager
to see what I had got, and to hear what I had to
say.
On returning with my bundle of " curios," I found
32 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING:
them all arranged under the verandah, and a chair
placed in front for me and my articles of mystery.
They eagerly examined everything, and listened to
my description of its uses. I gave them a short
account of the Islanders and of our efforts to carry
to them the Gospel of Jesus. I pressed on them the
blessings and the advantages of the great Redemp-
tion, and the peace and joy of living for and walking
daily with God here, in the assured hope of eternal
glory with Him hereafter ; and I urged one and all
to love and serve the Lord Jesus. Having stated
how I came to be there, and how I had been dis-
appointed, knowing that many would have sym-
pathized with and helped my Mission if only I could
have addressed them, I intimated that I would not
ask any contributions, but I would leave a few of the
Collecting' Cards for the new Mission Ship ; and if,
after what they had heard, they chose to do any-
thing, all money was to be sent to the Treasurer at
Melbourne.
Some offered me donations, but I declined, saying,
" I am a stranger to you all. The Minister has cast
suspicion on me by refusing to intimate any meeting.
In the circumstances, I can in this case receive
nothing. But I will rejoice if you all do whatever
you can for the precious work of our Lord Jesus
among the Heathen, and send it on to Melbourne,
whence every penny will be acknowledged in due
time."
Many took cards and became eager collectors for
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 33
the Mission ; and I knew, ere I returned to the
Public House that day, that the Lord's finger was
here also, and that the trial of disappointment
through the Minister was being already over-ruled
for good.
This was even more remarkably manifested on the
evening of that same day, and within the said Public
House itself. A very large number of men were
assembled there, some at tea, and others drinking
noisily, on their return from a great cattle market
and show. I tried to get into conversation with
some of the quieter spirits, and produced and ex-
plained to them the idols, clubs, and dresses, till
nearly all crowded eagerly around me. Then I told
them the story of our Mission, in process of which I
managed to urge the Gospel message on their own
hearts also ; and invited them to ask questions at
the close. The rough fellows became wonderfully
interested. Several took Collecting Cards for the
Dayspring fund. And the publican and his wife
were thereafter very kind, declining to take anything
from me either for bed or meals — another gleam out
of the darkness !
It is my conviction that in these ways the Lord
helped me to gain as much, if not, more for the
Mission than all that was lost through lack of a
meeting ; and it is certain that I thus had oppor-
tunity of speaking of sin and salvation, and of setting
forth the claims of Jesus before many souls that
never could have been reached through any ordinary
*• 3
34 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG."
Congregation. Again I learned to praise the Lord
in all circumstances — " Bless the Lord at all times,
0 my soul."
A lively and memorable extemporized meeting on
this tour is associated in memory with one of my
dearest friends. The district was very remote. He,
the squatter, and his beloved wife were sterling
Christians, and have been ever since warmly devoted
to me. On my arrival, he invited the people from
all the surrounding Stations, as well as his own
numerous servants, to hear the story of our Mission.
Next day he volunteered to drive me a long distance
over the plains of St. Arnaud, his dear wife accom-
panying us. At that time there were few fences in
such districts in Australia. The drive was long, but
the day had been lovely, and the fellowship was so
sweet that it still shines a sunny spot in the fields of
memory.
Having reached our destination about seven
o'clock, he ordered tea at the Inn for the whole
party ; and we sallied out meantime and took the
only Hall in the place, for an extemporized meeting
to be held that evening at eight o'clock. I then
hired a man to go through the township with a bell,
announcing the same ; while I myself went up one
side of the main street, and my friend up the other,
inviting all who would listen to us to attend the
Mission meeting, where South Sea Island idols,
weapons, and dresses would be exhibited, and stories
of the Natives told.
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSTR1XG." 35
Running back for a hurried cup of tea, I then
hasted to the Hall, and found it crowded to excess
with rough and boisterous diggers. The hour struck
as I was getting my articles arranged and spread out
upon the table, and they began shouting, "Where's
the Missionary ? " " Another hoax ! " — indicating
that they were not unwilling for a row. I learned
that, only a few nights ago, a so-called Professor
had advertised a lecture, lifted entrance money till
the Hall was crowded, and then quietly slipped off
the scene. In our case, though there was no charge,
they seemed disposed to gratify themselves by some
sort of promiscuous revenge.
Amidst the noisy chaff and rising uproar, I stepped
up on the table, and said, "Gentlemen, I am the
Missionary. If you will now be silent, the lecture
will proceed. According to my usual custom, let us
open the meeting with prayer."
The hush that fell was such a contrast to the pre-
ceding hubbub, that I heard my heart throbbing
aloud ! Then they listened to me for an hour, in
perfect silence and with ever-increasing interest. At
the close I intimated that I asked no collection ;
but if, after what they had heard, they would take a
Collecting Card for the new Mission Ship, and send
any contributions to the Treasurer at Melbourne, I
would praise God for sending me amongst them.
Many were heartily taken, and doubtless some souls
felt the " constraining love," who had till then been
living without God. Next morning, I mounted the
36 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING."
Mail Coach, and started on a three days' run, while
my dear friend returned safely to his home.
It was really very seldom, however, that I found
myself thus driven to extemporize my meetings.
Some Christian friend, if not the Minister of the
place, arranged all, and advertised my coming. And
the Lord greatly helped me in carrying on the bur-
densome correspondence thereanent, and keeping it
always three weeks ahead.
I travelled thus over the length and breadth of
New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South
Australia, telling the story of our Mission, and deliver-
ing the Lord's message, not only in great centres of
population, but in almost every smaller township ;
and not only thereby Floating the Day spring, but
sowing, by God's help, seeds of far-reaching blessing,
whose fruits will ripen through the years to come.
Blessed be His holy Name!
And here let me recall what happened at Penola,
a border town between Victoria and South Australia.
In the flooded, swampy country and bad bush-track
between it and Mount Gambier the roads were im-
passable, and the coach broke down. The Mail was
sent forward on horseback. I had waited for nearly
a week, in the hope of getting to the Mount for the
Sabbath Services that had been arranged. At length
I succeeded in engaging a man, with a pair of horses
and a light spring cart, to drive me there for £4 10s.
He declared the horses to be fresh, and able for the
journey. We started about mid-day ; but, ere many
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG." 37
miles had been covered, he began to whip them
severely. The horses looked utterly exhausted, and
the truth at once flashed on me. I was pleading with
him not to flog them so, when, on reaching a higher
piece of ground, he pulled up, and said, —
" I am ashamed to tell you that my horses are
done ! They had just come off a journey of forty
mile? when we started. I have told you a lie ; but
I hope you will forgive me. I was sorely in need of
the hire, and I deceived you. There is no help for
it now. We must camp out for the night on this dry
ground. I do hope you won't catch cold. You shall
sleep in the cart ; I can rest under it. I will set fire
to this large fallen tree to keep us warm. I have
brought a loaf of bread, and a billy (=a bushman's
can for boiling water). We can have some tea ; and,
rest assured, I shall land you there in time for the
Sabbath Morning Service."
So saying, while I listened dumbfounded, he turned
aside, unyoked the horses, " hobbled " them, and let
them go upon the grass. He made the black tea
which bushmen drink, and appeared to enjoy it. The
conveyance was drawn near to that burning tree, and
I got located into it, and was expected to rest. I
sat there wide-awake during weary hours ! Time
passed at a dreadfully slow pace, and sleep refused
to come near me. Kangaroos, wallabies, with other
nameless wild creatures and screaming birds, kept
loud festival all around ; and mosquitoes tortured me,
apparently in thousands. Towards midnight I saw
38 THE FLOATING OF THE " £>A1SFA'/NG."
a light in the distant bush, and, awaking my com-
panion, inquired if he could say what it might be. He
had heard that a Wesleyan farmer from near Adelaide
had come into that region to take up a sheep and
cattle Station there, as in that swampy country the
grass was excellent. It might be their light, or it
might be that of some benighted party camping out
like ourselves. He assured me that he could find our
way to that light, and back again to our burning tree,
and, partly to pass the time, I resolved to try.
We found the Wesleyan farmer there, living in a
large bush-shed, surrounded by a still larger enclosure
wherein horses, cattle, and sheep were kept for the
night all together upon the dry ground, awaiting the
erection of houses and fencing, with which they were
busily engaged. Unseemly as was our hour of call,
the dogs had loudly announced our approach, and
we got a cordial greeting, being immediately sur-
rounded by all the family. They eagerly listened to
everything about the Mission. We had worship to-
gether. They gave us a hearty tea, besides a loaf of
bread and a jug of milk for our breakfast next morn-
ing— the jug to be left by us beside the burning tree,
whither they could send for it after we departed.
Their regrets were genuine and profuse that their
circumstances prevented them from offering us a bed,
but we exceedingly enjoyed our intercourse with
them, and felt them to be dear Christian friends.
How delightful and responsive is the communion of
those who love the Lord Jesus, wherever they meet ;
THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING." 39
and oh, what will it be in Glory, when, made like unto
the Saviour, we shall " see Him as He is ! " At day-
break we were off again on our weary journey, and
reached the destination safely and in good time. A
hearty welcome awaited us from dear Mr. and Mrs.
Caldwell, who had long since despaired of my appear-
ing. All the Services were largely attended, and the
Lord led the people to take a deep interest in our
Mission, many generous and devoted friends to it
arising there, where the Minister and his wife struck
the right key-note, and were so highly and justly
esteemed.
Returning to Penola, we found that the Mail coach
would not try to run for some time. I had to re-
concile myself to wait there for several days. Every
day I beheld a man staggering about at all hours
under the influence of drink. I learned that he had
been a wealthy and open-handed squatter, had lost
everything, had recently laid his wife in the grave,
and now, followed about by his three little girls, was
trying to drown his sorrows in whisky. Overcome
with irresistible pity, I followed him day after day,
and again and again remonstrated with him on the
madness of his conduct, especially appealing to him
for his children's sake. At last he turned upon me,
with an earnest gaze, and said, " If you take the
pledge with me, God helping me, I will keep it for
life."
We entered the house together, signed a pledge,
aod solemnly invoked God in prayer to enable us to
40 77/E FLOATING OF THE " DAYS»RING.n
keep it till death. For his sake, I renewed the vow
of my youthful days ; and he, by my sympathy, took
this vow for the first time, and, by God's help, he
kept it. He left Penola next day, shaking off old
associates, and started a humble business where he
had once owned much of the land. He became a
Christian out and out, and has been an Elder of the
Church for many years. I have often been laughed
at by whisky drinkers, and also by so-called " tem-
perance " men, for being a Total Abstainer ; but even
one case like that (and, thank God, there are many)
is an eternal reward, and can sustain us to smile down
all ridicule.
Dear reader, can you measure the effect of the
example which you are setting ? Are you to-day
amongst the ranks of the moderate drinkers ? Re-
member that from that class all drunkards have
come ; and ask yourself whether you would not act
more nobly and unselfishly to abstain, for the in-
terests of our common Humanity, for loyalty to our
Lord Jesus Christ, and for the hope of leading a pure
and unstained life yourself, as well as helping others
to do so, whom Jesus died to save ?
The crowning adventure of my tour came about in
the following manner : I was advertised to conduct
Services at Narracoort on Sabbath, and at a Station
on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get
from Penola was a terrible perplexity. On Saturday
morning, however, a young lady offered me, out of
gratitude for blessings received, the use of her riding
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 41
horse for the journey. " Garibaldi " was his name ;
and, though bred for a race-horse, I was assured that
if I kept him firmly in hand, he would easily carry
me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to be
left at the journey's end, and the lady herself would
fetch him back. I shrank from the undertaking, know-
ing little of horses, and having vague recollections
of being dreadfully punished for more than a week
after my last and almost only ride. But every one
in that country is quite at ease on the back of a horse.
They saw no risk ; and, as there appeared no other
way of getting there to fulfil my engagements, I, for
my part, began to think that God had unexpectedly
provided the means, and that He would carry me
safely through.
I accepted the lady's kind offer, and started on my
pilgrimage. A friend showed me the road, and gave
me ample directions. In the bush, I was to keep
my eye on the notches in the trees, and follow them.
He agreed kindly to bring my luggage to the Station,
and leave it there for me by-and-bye. After I had
walked very quietly for some distance, three gentle-
men on horseback overtook me. We entered into
conversation. They inquired how far I was going,
and advised me to sit a little a freer " in the saddle,
as it would be so much easier for me. They seemed
greatly amused at my awkward riding ! Dark clouds
were now gathering ahead, and the atmosphere pro-
phesied a severe storm ; therefore they urged that
I should ride a little faster, as they, for a considerable
42 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRJNG.'
distance, could guide me on the right way. I ex-
plained to them my plight through inexperience, said
that I could only creep on slowly with safety, and
bade them Good-bye. As the sky was getting darker
every minute, they consented, wishing me a safe
journey, and started off at a smart pace.
I struggled to hold in my horse ; but seizing the
bit with his teeth, laying back his ears, and stretching
out his eager neck, he manifestly felt that his honour
was at stake ; and in less time than I take to write
it, the three friends cleared a way for us, and he tore
past them all at an appalling speed. They tried for
a time to keep within reach of us, but that sound
only put fire into his blood ; and in an incredibly
short time I heard them not ; nor, from the moment
that he bore me swinging past them, durst I turn my
head by one inch to look for them again. In vain I
tried to hold him in ; he tore on, with what appeared
to me the speed of the wind. Then the thunderstorm
broke around us, with flash of lightning and flood of
rain, and at every fresh peal my " Garibaldi " dashed
more wildly onward.
To me, it was a vast surprise to discover that I
could sit more easily on this wild flying thing, than
when at a canter or a trot. At every turn I expected
that he would dash himself and me against the great
forest trees ; but instinct rather than my hand guided
him miraculously. Sometimes I had a glimpse of
the road, but as for the " notches," I never saw one
of them ; we passed them with lightning speed.
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 43
Indeed, I durst not lift my eyes for one moment from
watching the horse's head and the trees on our track.
My high-crowned hat was now drenched, and
battered out of shape ; for whenever we came to a
rather clear space, I seized the chance and gave it
another knock down over my head. I was spattered
and covered with mud and mire.
Crash, crash, went the thunder, and on, on, went
" Garibaldi " through the gloom of the forest, emerg-
ing at length upon a clearer ground with a more
visible pathway. Reaching the top of the slope, a
large house stood out far in front of us to the left ;
and the horse had apparently determined to make
straight for that, as if it were his home. He skirted
along the hill, and took the track as his own familiar
ground, all my effort to hold him in or guide him
having no more effect than that of a child. By
this time, I suspect, I really had lost all power.
" Garibaldi " had been at that house, probably fre-
quently before ; he knew those stables ; and my fate
seemed to be instant death against door or wall.
Some members of the family, on the outlook for
the Missionary, saw us come tearing along as if mad
or drunk ; and now all rushed to the verandah,
expecting some dread -catastrophe. A tall and stout
young groom, amazed at our wild career, throwing
wide open the gate, seized the bridle at great risk to
himself, and ran full speed, yet holding back with all
his might, and shouting at me to do the same. We
succeeded, — " Garibaldi " having probably attained
44 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING:
his purpose, — in bringing him to a halt within a few
paces of the door. Staring at me with open mouth,
the man exclaimed, " I have saved your life. What
madness to ride like that ! " Thanking him, though
I could scarcely by this time articulate a word, I told
him that the horse had run away, and that I had lost
all control.
Truly I was in a sorry plight, drenched, covered
with mud, and my hat battered down over my eyes ;
little wonder they thought me drunk or mad !
Finally, as if to confirm every suspicion, and amuse
them all, — for master, mistress, governess, and
children now looked on from the verandah, — when I
was helped off the horse, I could not stand on my
feet ! My head still went rushing on in the race ; I
staggered, and down I tumbled into the mud,
feeling chagrin and mortification ; yet there I had to
sit for some time before I recovered myself, so as
either to rise or to speak a word. When I did get
to my feet, I had to stand holding by the verandah
for some time, my head still rushing on in the race.
At length the master said, " Will you not come in ? "
I knew that he was treating me for a drunken
man ; and the giddiness was so dreadful still, that
my attempts at speech seemed more drunken than
even my gait.
As soon as I could stand, I went into the house,
and drew near to an excellent fire in my dripping
clothes. The squatter sat opposite me in silence,
reading the newspapers, and taking a look at me
THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYi>PRING." 45
now and again over his spectacles. By-and-bye he
remarked, " Wouldn't it be worth while to change
your clothes ? "
Speech was now returning to me. I replied, "Yes,
but my bag is coming on in the cart, and may not be
here to-night."
He began to relent. He took me into a room, and
laid out for me a suit of his own. I being then very
slender, and he a big-framed farmer, my new dress,
though greatly adding to my comfort, enhanced the
singularity of my appearance.
Returning to him, washed and dressed, I inquired
if he had arranged for a meeting ? My tongue, I
fear, was still unsteady, for the squatter looked at
me rather reproachfully, and said, " Do you really
consider yourself fit to appear before a meeting
to-night?"
I assured him that he was quite wrong in his
suspicions, that I was a life-long Abstainer, and that
my nerves had been so unhinged by the terrible ride
and the runaway horse. He smiled rather suggest-
ively, and said we would see how I felt after tea.
We went to the table. All that had occurred was
now consummated by my appearing in the lusty
farmer's clothes ; and the lady and other friends had
infinite difficulty in keeping their amusement within
decent bounds. I again took speech in hand, but
I suspect my words had still the thickness of the
tippler's utterance, for they seemed not to carry much
conviction, — " Dear friends, I quite understand your
46 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSFR1NG*
feelings ; appearances are so strangely against me.
But I am not drunken, as ye suppose. I have
tasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total
Abstainer 1 "
This fairly broke down their reserve. They
laughed aloud, looking at each other and at me, as
if to say, " Man, you're drunk at this very moment."
Before tea was over they appeared, however, to
begin to entertain the idea that I might address the
meeting ; and so I was informed of the arrangements
that had been made. At the meeting, my incre-
dulous friends became very deeply interested.
Manifestly their better thoughts were gaining the
ascendancy. And they heaped thereafter every
kindness upon me, as if to make amends for harder
suspicions.
Next morning the master drove me about ten
miles further on to the Church. A groom rode the
race-horse, who took no scathe from his thundering
gallop of the day before. It left deeper traces upon
me. I got through the Services, however, and with
good returns for the Mission. Twice since, on my
Mission tours, I have found myself at that same
memorable house ; and on each occasion a large
company of friends were being regaled by the good
lady there with very comical descriptions of my first
arrival at her door.
CHAPTER II.
AMONG THE ABORIGINES,
K Fire-Water Festival.— At Tea with the Aborigines.—
"Black Fellow all Gone !"— The Poison-Gift and Civilization.
—The "Scattering" of the Blacks.— The "Brute-in-human-
shape" Theory.— The Testimony of Nora.— Nathaniel
Pepper and their "Gods."— Smooth Stone Idols.— Rites and
Ceremonies.— " Too much Devil-Devil."— The Quest for
Idols.— Visit to Nora in the Camp.— Independent Testi-
monies.—Nora's own Letters.— The Aborigines in Settle-
ments.
DETAINED for nearly a week at Balmoral by
the break-down of the coach on these dreadful
roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance ;
and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear
Mr. Laidlaw, volunteered, in order to reduce expenses,
to spend one day of his precious time coming for me,
and another driving me down. While awaiting him,
I came into painful and memorable contact with the
Aborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organ-
ized a day of sports, horse- racing, and circus exhibi-
tions. Immense crowds assembled, and, amongst the
rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the
surrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting
47
48 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
the giving of strong drinks to these poor creatures,
foolish and unprincipled dealers supplied them with
the same, and the very blankets which the Govern-
ment had given them, were freely exchanged for the
fire-water which kindled them to madness.
Next day was Sabbath. The morning was hideous
with the yells of the fighting Savages. They tore
about on the Common in front of the Church, leading
gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and
their wild voices without jarred upon the Morning
Service. About two o'clock, I tried to get into con-
versation with them. I appealed to them whether
they were not all tired and hungry ? They replied
that they had had no food all that day ; they had
fought since the morning ! I said, —
" I love you black fellows. I go Missionary black
fellows far away. I love you, want you rest, get food.
Come all of you, rest, sit round me, and we will talk,
till the j'ins ( = women) get ready tea. They boil water,
I take tea with you, and then you will be strong ! "
By broken English and by many symbols, I won
their ear. They produced tea and damper, i.e., a
rather forbidding-looking bread, without yeast, baked
on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I
kept incessantly talking, to interest them, and told
them how Jesus, God's dear Son, came and died to
make them happy, and how He grieved to see them
beating and fighting and killing each other.
When the tea was ready, we squatted on the green
gra^s, their tins were filled, the " damper " wag
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 49
broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing of God
on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating !
Many of them looked strong and healthy ; but not a
few were weak and dying creatures. The strong,
devouring all they could get, urged me to be done,
and let them finish their fighting, eager for the fray.
But having gained their confidence, I prayed with
them, and thereafter said, —
" Now, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one
thing for my sake, which you can all easily do."
With one voice they replied, —
" Yes, we all do whatever you say." I got their
leaders to promise to me one by one. I then said, —
" Now you have got your tea, and I ask every man
and boy among you to lie down in the bush and take
a sleep, and your wives will sit by and watch over
your safety 1 "
In glum silence, their war weapons still grasped
in their hands, they stood looking intently at me,
doubting whether I could be in earnest. I urged
them, —
"You all promised to do what I asked. If >ou
break your promise, these white men will laugh at
me, and say that black fellows only lie and deceive.
Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here
till I see you all asleep."
One said that his head was cut, and he must have
revenge before he could lie down. Others filed past
showing their wounds, and declaring that it *ras too
bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them
P. 4
50 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
as far as I could, but urged them for once to be men
and to keep their word. Finally they all agreed to
lie down, I waiting till the last man had disap-
peared ; and, being doubly exhausted with the
debauch and the fighting, they were soon all fast
asleep. I prayed that the blessed Sleep might lull
their savage passions.
Before daylight next morning, the Minister and I
were hastening to the scene to prevent further fight-
ing ; but as the sun was rising we saw the last tribe
of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of
a hill. A small party belonging to the district alone
remained. They shouted to us, "Black fellow all
gone! No more fight. You too much like black
fellow 1"
For three days afterwards I had still to linger
there ; and if their dogs ran or barked at me, the
women chased them with sticks and stones, and
protected me. One little touch of kindness and
sympathy had unlocked their darkened hearts.
The Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as
perhaps the most degraded portion of the human
race, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. Like
the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay
and Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair,
coarse, black, curly, but not woolly ; eyes, dark and
yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows ; nose flat, with
hole bored through septum, in which ornament is
hung; small chin, thick lips, large mouth, and
lustrous teeth ; high cheek bones, with sunken eyes
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. $1
and well-developed brow. Like all Savages in their
natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and
wretched ; especially in winter, when covered with
kangaroo and opossum skins, which they hung
around themselves loosely by day, and under which
they slept at night. They sometimes daubed their
bodies all over with paint, mud, charcoal, or ashes.
Their women are generally of a slender build. All
these features and notes are true of many of our
South Sea Islanders too ; but they, again, are
decidedly of a higher type. On many of the Islands,
faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed
as amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are
not nomadic ; they live in settled villages, and cul-
tivate the land for their support.
Having read very strong statements for and
against the Aborigines, in my many journeys twenty-
four years ago I resolved to embrace every oppor-
tunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly
from themselves. I have also seen their disgusting
" Corrobbarees," and know by facts how demoralizing
these Heathen dances are. I know also what strong
drink has done amongst them.
Who wonders that the dark races melt away
before the whites! The pioneers of civilization
will carry with them this demon of strong drink,
the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black
people drink, and become unmanageable ; and
through the white man's own poison-gift an excuse
is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face
52 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
of the earth. Marsden's writings show how our
Australian blacks are destroyed. But I have myself
been on the track of such butcheries again and
again. A Victorian lady told me the following
incident She heard a child's pitiful cry in the bush.
On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping over
her younger brother. She said, —
" The white men poisoned our father and mother.
They threaten to shoot me, so that I dare not go
near them. I am here, weeping over my brother
till we die ! "
The compassionate lady promised to be a mother
to the little sufferers, and to protect them. They
instantly clung to her, and have proved themselves
to be loving and dutiful ever since.
In Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and
mounted — accompanied by only one white officer,
that no tales might be told — were reported to be
regularly sent out to " scatter " the blacks 1 That
meant, in many a case, wholesale murder. But in
1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths, premier, had
these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The
Sydney Morning Herald, 21st March, 1883, contains
stronger things than were ever penned or uttered by
me as to the wholesale destruction of the Aborigines.
The watchword of the white settlers, practically if
not theoretically, has been, " Clear them out of the
way, and give us the soil ! "
Though amongst the lower types of the human
race, the Aborigines have made excellent stock
AMONG TEE ABORIGINES. 53
riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in
every department And they have proved honest
and faithful, especially when kindly treated. Austra-
lians are sometimes bitter against them, for a reason
that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take
Aboriginal boys or girls into their service, they
train them just till they are beginning to be useful,
and lo ! they go back to their own people. But in
almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly
clear. They are only taught so far as to make
them useful tools. Their minds were not instructed,
nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and
the love of Jesus. They were not on an equality
in any way either with children or with servants.
They grew up without equals and without associates.
They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with
contempt and abuse. They instinctively felt that
the moment they were unable to serve the self-in-
terest of their employers, they themselves would be
thrust out. They had not the spirit of the slave,
though kept in the rank of a slave ; and they yearned
for satisfaction of these instincts, which the supply
of their mere animal necessities could not assuage.
Among the whites, they felt degraded and outcast ;
amongst their own people, they had the honour and
esteem that were within reach of their kindred, and
they might weave around their poor lot the mys-
terious and ever-blessed ties of family and home.
And here and there, doubtless, flashed in the heart
of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism that
54 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
led Moses to escape from Pharaoh's court, and refuse
to be identified with the despisers and oppressors of
his own enslaved race, — divine in the Aboriginal as
in the Hebrew, though each might give a very differ-
ent account of its origin !
A book once fell into my hands, entitled, —
" Sermons on Public Subjects," by Charles Kingsley.
I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly
beloved ; and hence my positive distress on reading
from the eighth sermon, page 234, " On the Fall,''
the following awful words : — *" The Black people
of Australia, exactly the same race as the African
Negro, cannot take in the Gospel. . . . All at-
tempts to bring them to a knowledge of the true
God have as yet failed utterly. . . . Poor brutes
in human shape . . . they must perish off the
face of the earth like brute beasts."
I will not blame this great preacher for boldly
uttering and publishing what multitudes of others
show by their conduct that they believe, but dare
not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing
facts and details which Kingsley could never know,
* See the whole context in " Sermons on National Subjects."
(Macmillan &•» Co., 18S0) pp. 414 to 417, where it is numbered as
Sermon XLI.; particularly this regulative declaration regarding
" what Original Sin may bring man to " : — " What is to my
mind the most awful part of the matter remains to be told —
that man may actually fall by Original Sin too low to re-
ceive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be recovered again by
it"— (Editor).
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. $b
I turn aside for a few moments, and let the light of
practical knowledge stream in on this and all
similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it
may.
While I was pondering over Kingsley's words, the
story of Nora, an Aboriginal Christian woman, whom,
as hereafter related, I myself actually visited and
corresponded with, was brought under my notice, as
if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous
preacher had proclaimed. A dear friend told me
how he had seen Nora encamped with the blacks
near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost,
through drink, their once comfortable home at a
Station where he was employed. The change back
to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay
sick on the ground within a miserable hut. The
visitors found her reading a Bible, and explaining to
a number of her own poor people the wonders of
redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart,
Esq., overcome by the sight, said, —
" Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived
of every comfort in your sickness."
She answered, not without tears, "The change
has indeed made me unwell ; but I am beginning
to think that this too is for the best ; it has at last
brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will
grudge nothing if God thereby brings him to the
Saviour's feet ! "
She further explained, that she had found wonder-
ful joy in telling her own people about the true God
56 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
and his Son Jesus, and was quite assured that the
Lord in His own way would send her relief. The
visitors who accompanied Mr. Urquhart showed
themselves to be greatly affected by the true and
pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on
parting she said, —
" Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or
the food, or the company ; but I am and have been
happy in trying to do good amongst my people."
For my part, let that dear Christlike soul look
out on me from her Aboriginal hut, and I will
trample under foot all teachings or theorizings that
dare to say that she or her kind are but poor brutes ;
— they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. " I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth,
that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."
Recall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has
done for the near kindred of these same Abori-
ginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals have
been led to renounce their heathenism, and are lead-
ing a civilized and a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000
Cannibals have been brought under the influence of
the Gospel ; and 13,000 members of the Churches
there are professing to live and work for Jesus. In
Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals have professed Christianity ;
and, in nineteen years, its College has sent forth 206
Native teachers and evangelists. On our New
Hebrides, more than 12,000 Cannibals have been
brought to sit at the feet of Christ, not to say that
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. $>
they are all model Christians; and 133 of the
Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers
and preachers of the Gospel. Had Christ been
brought in the same way into the heart and life of
the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of
Britain — equally blessed results would as surely have
followed, for He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and
for ever."
It is easy to understand, moreover, how even ex-
perienced travellers may be deluded to believe that
the Aborigines have no idols and no religion. One
must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere
he can authoritatively decide these questions. Before
I left Melbourne, for instance, I had met Nathaniel
Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from Wimmera. I
asked him if his people had any " Doctors," i.e., sacred
men or priests. He said they had. I inquired if
they had any objects of Worship, or any belief in
God ? He said, " No ! None whatever."
But on taking from my pocket some four small
stone idols, his expression showed at once that he
recognised them as objects of Worship. He had
seen the sacred men use them ; but he refused to
answer any more questions. I resolved now, if pos-
sible, to secure some of their idols, and set this whole
problem once for all at rest.
At Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a
whole camp of the Aborigines to come to my meet-
ing. After the address, they waited to examine the
idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of
58 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
the young men admitted that their "doctors" had
things like these, which they and the old people
prayed to ; but they added jauntily, —
" We young fellows don't worship ; we know too
much for that ! "
No " doctors " were, however, in that camp ; so I
could not meet with them ; but I already felt that
the testimony of nearly all white people that the
blacks had "no idols and no worship," was quickly
crumbling away. Besides, my ever-dear friend,
Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me that when he
first went out among the blacks, — almost alone, and
one of the first white men they had ever seen, — he
saw them handling, and going through ceremonials
with just such "smooth stones" as I had brought
from the Islands, without for a moment dreaming
that they were idols. Yet such is the actual fact ;
very much as it was in the ancient days when Isaiah
(ch. Ivii. 6) denounced thus the "sons of the sorcer-
ess," who were "inflaming themselves with idols."
" Among the smooth stones of the stream (or valley)
is thy portion ; they, they are thy lot ; even to them
hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered
a meat offering (or oblation)."
Yet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, in-
formed me that he also had seen the Aborigines
engaged in religious observances. First of all, a vast
multitude of men and women joined in a great
Corrobbarree, or Heathen festival and dance. There-
after each marched individually towards the centre of
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 59
a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed as if
in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the
ground. Our life amongst the heathen had taught
us that Worship was there.
The rite of circumcision was practised also amongst
the blacks of Australia as well as amongst our New
Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining what was looked
upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their
privileges as men ; and the occasion was accom-
panied with feasting, dancing, and what they regarded
as religious ceremonies.
Some tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also,
indicate the rank or class to which a man belongs
by the barbarous custom of knocking out the two
front teeth ! This is done on reaching a certain age ;
with feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during
full moon, in connection with sacred spots, which no
one but a priest will be found daring enough to ap-
proach.
Hence there is no doubt in my mind as to the
character and meaning of such " mysterious figures "
as those so much discussed, carved on the flat rocks
at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promon-
tory at Cape Cove. They are found also at Point
Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove, and at many
other places throughout Australia, representing the
human figure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo,
the flying squirrel, the shark, the whale, etc., etc.,— all
of which I believe to be sacred objects, and these
rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the
60 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
fish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The
Aborigines would give no explanation of their origin,
except that they were " made by black fellows long,
long ago ; " and that the blacks would not live near
them, for "too much devil-devil walk about there."
The Balmoral blacks informed me that their sacred
men carried about such objects as I showed them,
and " that they were devil-devil," — which is their only
word for God or Spirit, when they talk to you in
broken English.
The 1 8th of February, 1863, was a day worthy
of being chronicled and remembered. I visited the
Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district of
Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the
Aborigines on the plain near by. Securing the com-
pany of the following witnesses, I proceeded to the
camp, and found that part of them had already seen
me at Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly
well. I managed to break through their reticence, and
in course of time they tcld us freely about the customs
and traditions of their people. They took us to their
"doctor," or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut.
Half concealed among the skins and clothes behind
him, I observed several curious bags, which I knew at
once would probably contain the little idols of which
I was in quest. I urged the witnesses to take special
notice of everything that occurred, and draw up and
sign a statement for my future use. The following is
their attested report : —
"Mr. Paton, having carefully explained to the
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 61
blacks that he would like to see some of the sacred
objects which they said made the people sick and well,
assured them that his aim was not to mock at them,
but to prove to white people that the blacks had
objects of worship and were not like pigs and dogs.
He offered them a number of small pieces of silver to
get bread and tea for the "doctor," if they would open
these little bags and let us see what was in them.
After a good deal of talk amongst themselves, he took
some of the Island stone-gods from his pocket, saying,
1 1 know that these bags have such things in them.'
An Aboriginal woman exclaimed, ' You can't hide
them from that fellow ! He knows all about us.'
Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give them
sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the
little bags, but they refused. After consulting the
Sacred Man, however, he took the silver pieces and
allowed them to be opened before us. They were
full of exactly such stones and other things as Mr.
Paton had brought from the Islands, to prove to
white people in Melbourne that they were not like
dogs, but had gods ; he offered the Sacred Man more
money for four of the objects he had seen. After
much talk among themselves, he took the money ;
and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol,
a piece of painted wood of conical shape, a piece of
bone of human leg with seven rings carved round
it, which they said had the power of restoring sick
people to health, and another piece of painted wood
which made people sick ; but they made him solemnly
62 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
promise that he would tell no other black fellows
where he got them. They were much interested in
Mr. Paton's conversation, and said, ' No Missionary
teach black fellow.' They then showed us square
rugs, thread and grass bags, etc., all neatly made by
themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they
and their wives could learn to do things and to work
just like white people ; but they said, ' White man no
care for black fellow.' All this, we, whose names
follow, were eye-witnesses of: — G. Rutherford, (Mrs.)
A. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima
Rutherford, Ben. B. Bentock, tutor of the Rutherford
family."
On returning to Horsham, I informed my dear
friends, Rev. P. Simpson and his excellent lady, of
my exploits and possessions. He replied, —
" There is a black ' doctor ' gone round our house
just now to see one of his people who is washing here
to-day. Let us go and test them, whether they
know these objects."
Carrying them in his hand we went to them. The
woman instantly on perceiving them dropped what
she was washing, and turned away in instinctive
terror. Mr. Simpson asked, —
" Have you ever before seen stones like these ? "
The wily " doctor " replied, " Plenty on the plains,
where I kick them out of my way."
Taking others out of my pocket, I said, " These
make people sick and well, don't they ? "
His rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed,
AMONG THE ABORIGINE^. 63
u What black fellow give you these ? If I know him
I do for him ! "
The woman, looking the picture of terror, and
pointing to one of the objects, cried, —
" That fellow no good ! he kill men. No good, no
good ! Me too much afraid."
Then, looking to me, she said, pointing with her
finger, " That fellow savy (knows) too much ! No
white man see them. He no good."
There was more in this scene and in all its sur-
roundings, than in many arguments ; and Mr. Simp-
son thoroughly believed that these were objects of
idolatrous worship.
On a later occasion I showed these four objects to
Aborigines, with whom I got into intercourse far off
in New South Wales. They at once recognised
them, and showed the same superstitious dread.
They told me the peculiar characteristics and the
special powers ascribed to each idol or charm. This
I confirmed by the testimony of five different tribes
living at great distances from each other ; and it is
morally certain that amongst all the blacks of Austra-
lia such objects are so worshipped and feared in the
place of God.
And now let me relate the story of my visit to
Nora, the converted Aboriginal referred to above.
Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J.P., Victoria,
I found my way to the encampment near Hexham.
She did not know of our coming, nor see us till we
stood at the door of her hut. She was clean and
64 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
tidily dressed, as were also her dear little children,
and appeared glad to see us. She had just been
reading the Presbyterian Messe?igery and the Bible
was lying at her elbow. I said, —
" Do you read the Messenger ? "
She replied, " Yes ; I like to know what is going
on in the Church."
We found her to be a sensible and humble Chris-
tian woman, conversing intelligently about religion and
serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath she brought
her husband, her children, and six blacks to Church, all
decently dressed, and they all listened most attentively.
At our first meeting I said, " Nora, they tell me
you are a Christian. 1 want to ask you a few ques-
tions about the blacks ; and I hope that as a Chris-
tian you will speak the truth." Rather hurt at my
language, she raised her right hand, and replied, " I
am a Christian. I fear and serve the true God. I
always speak the truth."
Taking from my pocket the stone idols from the
Islands, I inquired if her people had or worshipped
things like these. She replied, " The ' doctors ' have
them."
"Have you a 'doctor 'in your camp?" I asked.
She said, " Yes, my uncle is the Sacred Man ; but
he is now far away from this."
" Has he the idols with him now ?" I inquired.
She answered, " No ; they are left in my care."
I then said : "Could you let us see them ?"
She consulted certain representatives of the tribe
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 65
who were at hand. They rose, and removed to a
distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood assured
me that no fault would be found with her, as she was
the real, or at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of
a larger bag she then drew two smaller bags and
opened them. They were filled with the very objects
which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her
to consult the men of her tribe whether they would
agree to sell four or five of them to me, that I might
by them convince the white people that they had
gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes
of the field ; the money to be given to their Sacred
Man on his return. This, also, after a time was
agreed to. I selected three of the objects, and paid
the stipulated price. And the undernoted indepen-
dent witness attests the transaction : —
" I this day visited an encampment of the Hop-
kins blacks, in company with Rev. Mr. Paton,
Missionary, and was witness to the following. Mr.
Paton being under the impression that many of the
superstitions and usages, common to the South Sea
Islanders were similar among the Aborigines of
Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the
former, and asking if they had seen any like them.
This inquiry was made of a highly civilized woman,
named Nora, who can read and write, and has great
influence with her tribe. She answered : Oh yes,
the ' doctors ' have them.
" On Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some
of them, she, after consulting some time with the
P. 5
66 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
other blacks, said she had some belonging to King
John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them
m her care. After considerable reluctance shown on
the part of the other blacks, who were off when they
saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a bag was
produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or
bears' tusks, pieces of human bone, stones, charred
wood, etc., etc. She described the virtues attributed
to the different articles. If any evil was wanted to
befall one of another tribe, the 'doctor,' after mut-
tering, threw such a stone in the direction he was
supposed to be, wishing he might fall sick, or might
die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered into his
body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another
piece of charred wood, that the ' doctor ' rubbed on
the diseased part of any sick person, made the pain
come out to the spirit in the wood, and the ' doctor '
carried it away. All this time the other blacks were
in evident dread of the things being seen and
handled, repeating, ' No white man ever see these
before ! ' Mr. Paton got three specimens from them,
viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved
bone, Robert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Me-
rang, 28th February, 1863."
Mr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of
or seen these things before, living so long amongst
them, and blacks constantly coming and going about
his house. She replied, —
" Long ago white men laughed at black fellows,
praying to their idols. Black fellows said, white
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 67
men never see them again ! Suppose this white man
not know all about them, he would not now see them
No white men live now have seen what you have seen."
Thus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and
in presence of the most reliable witnesses, that the
Aborigines, before they saw the white invaders, were
not "brutes" incapable of knowing God, but human
beings, yearning after a God of some kind. Nor do
I believe that any tribe of men will ever be found,
who, when their language and customs are rightly
interpreted, will not display their consciousness of
the need of a God and that Divine capacity of hold-
ing fellowship with the Unseen Powers, of which the
brutes are without one faintest trace.
The late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in
1863 as follows : —
"During a residence of twenty-six years in New
South Wales and Victoria, from constant intercourse
with Australian Aborigines I am convinced that
they are capable of learning anything that white
people in an equally neglected condition could learn.
In two instances I met with females possessing a
greater amount of religious knowledge than many of
our white population. The one was able to prompt
the children she was attending as a servant in the
answers proper to give to the questions I put to
them regarding the facts and doctrines of Christian-
ity. This was in New South Wales. The other was
Nora Hood, baptized and married to an Aboriginal.
I conversed with her according to the usage of the
68 AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a sin-
cere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her chil-
dren without hesitation ; while I felt it to be my duty
in many cases to withhold the privilege from white
parents, on account of their being unable to make a
credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedi-
ence to Him. Under God, she owes her instruction
and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie. William Hamil-
ton, Minister."
William Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote
in 1863 : —
" The Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in
spirits, and that their spirit leaves the body at death
and goes to some other island, and they seem to
have many superstitious ideas about the dead. . . .
I believe they would have been as easily influenced
by the Gospel as any other savages, if they had been
taught ; but intoxicating spirits, and the accompany-
ing vices of white people have ruined them. William
Armstrong."
But let Nora, one of the " poor brutes in human
shape," who was " incapable of taking in the Gospel,"
and must "perish like brute beasts," now speak to
the heart of every reader in her own words. In
February, 1863, she wrote to me as follows : —
"Dear Sir, — I received your kind letter, and was
glad to hear from you. I am always reading my
Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in Christ
Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks
about Jesus Christ ; and some of them believe in
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 69
God and in Jesus. I always teach my children to
pray to God our Father in Heaven. . . . Colin
will try not to drink any more. He is always pray-
ing to God. Them blacks that come with me, I will
tell about God and about their sins ; but they are so
very wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them.
Sir, I shall always pray for you, that God may bless
and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my husband,
and my children ! Your obedient servant, Nora
Hood."
In her second letter, she says :— " Your kind letter
gave me great comfort. I thank God that I am able
to read and write. Mrs. and Miss MacKenzie taught
me ; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ
my Saviour. Our Lord says, ' Come unto Me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest' ■ Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters ! ' Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I
have been always telling Katy and all the rest of
them about Jesus Christ our Saviour. Please, Sir, I
would like you to write to me, that I may show them
your letters," etc., etc.
In a third letter, also dated 1863, she says:—
" Dear Sir, Colin and I were glad to hear from you.
I am telling the blacks always about God our
Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are
so very wicked. They go from place to place, and
don't stop long with me. I am always teaching my
children to pray, and would like to send them to
School if I could. ... I hope you will go home
7o AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
to England safely, get more Missionaries, and then
go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I will
be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless
you, wherever you go! Your affectionate, Nora
Hood."
Poor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora ! The Christ-
spirit shines forth unmistakably through thee, —
praying for and seeking to save husband and children,
enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion
with thy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy
people and seeking to lift them up by telling them of
the true God and of His love to Mankind through
Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians mani-
fested forth as much of the Divine Master's Spirit !
Alas, in reading Marsden's " Life," and other
authorities, one shrinks with a sickening feeling at
the description of the butcheries of the poor blacks !
Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out
to join the troops, and nearly three thousand armed
men gloated in the work of destruction from the 4th
of October till the 26th November. Read of one
boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own
hand ; another, that he had slain, and piled up in a
heap, thirty men, women, and children ; and a third,
a gentleman, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw tells,
exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of
a poor black, pierced by the bullet with which he
had shot him ! And their sin, their crime ? Oh,
only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which
fattened on the lands where once grew their food
AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 71
and from which the white man had pitilessly hunted
them. Retribution comes, but sometimes slowly, and
is not recognised when she appears ; but Australia
suffers to-day from the passions then let loose against
the blacks. The demons have come home to roost.
During my last Mission tour, in 1888, through
Victoria and part of New South Wales, I visited all
Stations of the Aborigines that could be conveniently
reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous
race are now assembled together. They try hard
to constrain themselves to live in houses. But the
spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start
forth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble
over their old hunting grounds, and to taste the
sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the Government
now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines
who will remain at the appointed Stations, so that in
regard to temporals the survivors are not badly off.
Their religious training and spiritual interests are
left entirely to the Churches. The Government pro-
vides a Superintendent at each Station ; and where
he is a Christian man, and takes any interest in the
religion and morals of the tribes, contentment reigns.
At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is
Rev. F. A. Haganeur ; and he and his excellent wife
regularly instruct the blacks. Nothing can be more
delightful than the results. The faces of the people
were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean
and neat cottages were a picture and an emblem. In
their Church, a Native woman played the harmonium
7* AMONG THE ABORIGINES.
and led the praise. I never had more attentive
Congregations. On two occasions they handed me
£$, collected at their own free will, for our Island
Mission. Their School received from the Government
examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at
this Station have, after a consistent Christian life,
died in the full hope of Glory together with Jesus.
At all the other Stations in Victoria the outward
comforts of the Natives are attended to, but Superin-
tendents ought to be appointed, in every case, to care
for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong
drink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the
Aborigines away ; and Australia has but short time
to atone for the cruelties of the past, and to snatch a
few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown
of Jesus our Lord.
At my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry
Barkley presiding, I pleaded that the Colony should
put forth greater efforts to give the Gospel to the
Aborigines ; I showed the idols which I had dis-
covered amongst them ; I read Nora's letters, and, I
may, without presumption, say, the"brute-in-human-
fihape " theory has been pretty effectually buried ever
since:
CHAPTER III.
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis.— Casting Lots before the
Lord.— Struck by Lightning.— A Peep at London.— A
Heavenly Welcome.— The Moderator's Chair.— Reformed
Presbyterian Church and Free Church.— Tour through
Scotland.— A Frosted Foot— The Children's Holy League.
— Missionary Volunteers.— A God-provided Help-Mate. —
Farewell to the Old Family Altar.— First Peep at the Day-
spring. — The Day spring in a Dead- Lock.— Tokens of
Deliverance.— The John Williams and the Dayspring.—
Australia's Special Call.
EACH of my Australian Committees strongly
urged my return to Scotland, chiefly to secure,
if possible, more Missionaries for the New Hebrides.
Dr. Inglis, just arrived from Britain, where he had
the Aneityumese New Testament carried through
the press, zealously enforced this appeal. " Before I
left home," he wrote back to the Church in Scotland,
" I thought this would be inexpedient ; but since I
returned here, and have seen the sympathy, interest,
and liberality displayed through the blessing of God
on Mr. Paton's instrumentality, and the altered aspect
of the Mission, I feel that a crisis has been reached
7?
74 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
when a special effort must be made to procure more
men, for which I had neither the time, nor had I the
means to employ them, but which may now be
appropriately done by Mr. Paton ; and my prayer
and hope are that he may be as successful in securing
men at home as he has been in securing money in
these Colonies."
Yet my path was far from clear, notwithstanding
my Gideon's fleece referred to already. To lose
time in going home to do work that others ought
to do, while I still heard the wail of the perishing
Heathen on the Islands, could scarcely be my duty.
Amidst overwhelming perplexity, and finding no
light from any human counsel, I took a step, to
which only once before in all my chequered career
I have felt constrained. Some will mock when they
read it, but others will perhaps more profoundly say :
" To whomsoever this faith is given, let him obey it."
After many prayers, and wrestlings, and tears, I
went alone before the Lord, and, on my knees, cast
lots with a solemn appeal to God, and the answer
came, " Go home ! " In my heart, I sincerely believe
that on both these occasions the Lord condescended
to decide for me the path of duty, otherwise un-
known ; and I believe it the more truly now, in view
of the after-come of thirty_ years of service to Christ
that flowed out of the steps then deliberately and
devoutly taken. In this, and in many other matters,
I am no law to others, though I obeyed my then
highest light. Nor can I refrain from adding that, fof
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 75
the very reasons indicated above, I regard so-called
" lotteries " and " raffles " as a mockery of God, and
little if at all short of blasphemy. " Ye cannot drink
at the Lord's Table, and at the table of devils."
I sailed for London in the Kosciusko, an Aberdeen
clipper, on 16th May, 1863. Captain Stewart made
the voyage most enjoyable to all. The son of my
old friend Bishop Selwyn and I conducted alternately
a Presbyterian and an Anglican Service. We passed
through a memorable thunder-burst in rounding the
Cape. Our good ship was perilously struck by
lightning. The men on deck were thrown violently
down. The copper on the bulwarks was twisted and
melted — a specimen of which the Captain gave me
and I still retain. When the ball of fire struck the
ship, those of us sitting on chairs, screwed to the
floor around the Cabin table, felt as if she were
plunging to the bottom. When she sprang aloft
again, a military man and a medical officer were
thrown heavily into the back passage between the
Cabins, the screws that held their seats having
snapped asunder. I, in grasping the table, got my
leg severely bruised, being jammed betwixt the seat
and the table, and had to be carried to my berth.
All the men were attended to, and quickly recovered
consciousness ; and immediately the good Captain,
an elder of the Church, came to me, and said, —
" Lead us in prayer, and let us thank the Lord for
this most merciful deliverance ; the ship is not on
fire, and no one is seriously injured ! "
76 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
Poor fellow ! whether hastened on by this event I
know not, but he struggled for three weeks thereafter
in a fever, and it took our united care and love to
pull him through. The Lord, however, restored him;
and we cast anchor safely in the East India Docks,
at London, on 26th August, 1863, having been three
months and ten days at sea from port to port.
It was 5.30 p.m. when we cast anchor, and the
gates closed at six o'clock. My little box was ready
on deck. The Custom House officers kindly passed
me, and I was immediately on my way to Euston
Square. Never before had I been within the Great
City, and doubtless I could have enjoyed its palaces
and memorials. But the King's business, entrusted
to me, " required haste," and I felt constrained to
press forward, looking neither to the right hand nor
to the left. The streets through which I was driven
seemed to be dirty and narrow ; many of the people
had a squalid and vicious look ; and, fresh from
Australia, my disappointment was keen as to the
smoky and miserable appearance of what I saw. No
doubt other visitors will behold only the grandeur
and the wealth ; they will see exactly what they
come to see, and London will shine before them
accordingly.
At nine o'clock, that evening, I left for Scotland
by train. Next morning, about the same hour, I
reported myself at the manse of the Rev. John Kay,
Castle Douglas, the Convener of the Foreign Missions
Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 77
which I belonged. We arranged for a meeting of
said Committee, at earliest practicable date, that my
scheme and plans might at once be laid before them.
By the next train I was on my way to Dumfries,
and thence by conveyance to my dear old home at
Torthorwald. There I had a Heavenly Welcome
from my saintly parents, yet not unmixed with
many fast-falling tears. Five brief years only had
elapsed, since I went forth from their Sanctuary,
with my young bride ; and now, alas ! alas ! that
grave on Tanna held mother and son locked in each
other's embrace till the Resurrection Day.
Not less glowing, but more terribly agonizing, was
my reception, a few days thereafter, at Coldstream,
when I first gazed on the bereaved father and mother
of my beloved ; who, though godly people, were
conscious of a heart-break under that stroke, from
which through their remaining years they never fully
rallied. They murmured not against the Lord ; but
all the same, heart and flesh began to faint and fail,
even as our Divine Example Himself fainted under
the Cross, which yet He so uncomplainingly bore.
The Foreign Mission Committee of the Reformed
Presbyterian Church met in Edinburgh, and welcomed
me kindly, nay, warmly. A full report of all my
doings for the past, and of all my plans and hopes,
was laid before them. They at once agreed to my
visiting and addressing every Sabbath School in the
Church. They opened to me their Divinity Hall,
that I might appeal to the Students. My Address
78 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
there was published and largely circulated, under the
motto : '•' Come over and help us." It was used of
God to deepen vastly the interest in our Mission.
The Committee generously and enthusiastically
did everything in their power to help me. By their
influence, the Church in 1864 conferred on me the
undesired and undeserved honour, the highest which
they could confer — the honour of being the Moderator
of their Supreme Court. No one can understand how
much I shrank from all this ; but, in hope of the
Lord's using it and me to promote His work amongst
the Heathen, I accepted the Chair, though, I fear,
only to occupy it most unworthily, for Tanna gave
me little training for work like that !
The Church, as there represented, passed a Reso-
lution, declaring : —
" It is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that
we behold present at this meeting one of our most
devoted Missionaries. The result of Mr. Paton's
appeals in Australia has been unprecedented in the
history of this Mission. It appears in the shape of
.£4,500 added to the funds of the New Hebrides
Mission, besides over £300 for Native Teachers, to
be paid yearly in £$ contributions, and all expenses
met. The Spirit of God must have been poured out
upon the inhabitants of the Colonies, in leading them
to make such a noble offering as this to the cause of
Missions, and in making our Missionary the honoured
instrument God employed in drawing forth the sym-
pathy and liberality of the Colonists. Now, by the
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 79
good hand of God upon him, he holds the most
honoured position of Moderator of the Church, etc.,
etc."
The Synod also placed on record its gratitude for
what God had thus done ; and its cordial recognition
of the many and fruitful services rendered by Minis-
ters and Sabbath Schools, both in Scotland and
Australia, in standing by me and helping on the
Floating of the Day spring.
I have ever regarded it as a privilege and honour
that I was born and trained within the old covenant-
ing Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. As
a separate Communion, that Church is small amongst
the thousands of Israel ; but the principles of Civil
and Religious Liberty for which her founders suffered
and died are, at this moment, the heart and soul of
all that is best and divinest in the Constitution of our
British Empire. I am more proud that the blood of
Martyrs is in my veins, and their truths in my heart,
than other men can be of noble pedigree or royal
names. And I was,— in that day of the Church's
honour so distinguished for her Missionary zeal, —
filled with a high passion of gratitude to be able to
proclaim, at the close of my tour, and after the addition
of new names to our staff, that of all her ordained
Ministers, one in every six was a Missionary of the
Cross, £
Nor did the dear old Church thus cripple herself;
on the contrary, her zeal for Missions accompanied,
if not caused, unwonted prosperity at home. New
8o TO SCOTLAND AND BACK,
waves of liberality passed over the heart of her people.
Debts that had burdened many of the Churches and
Manses were swept away. Additional Congregations
were organized. And in May, 1876, the Reformed
Presbyterian Church entered into an honourable and
independent Union with her larger, wealthier, and
more progressive sister, the Free Church of Scotland,
— only a few of the brethren, doubtless with perfect
loyalty to what they regarded as duty to Christ, still
holding aloof and standing firmly in the old paths,
as they appeared to them.
In the Deed of Union the incorporating Church
took itself bound legally and formally to maintain
the New Hebrides Mission staff, and also the Day-
spring, committing herself never to withdraw, as it
were, till these Islands were all occupied for Jesus.
Now that the French have been constrained to
abandon the scene, the field is open, and the Islands
wail aloud for eight or ten Missionaries more than
we at present have (1889) ; and then the Standard of
the Cross might speedily be planted on every separate
isle, and a true sense might at last come into the
foolish name given to these regions by their Spanish
discoverer, when he called the part at which he
touched, thinking it the fabled Southern Continent,
the Land of the Holy Ghost.
When the aforesaid Union took place, all the
Missionaries of their own free accord cast in their
lot with the incorporating Church ; not only those
directly supported by the old Reformed Presby-
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 81
terians themselves, but also the several Missionaries
sent forth by them, though supported by one or other
of the Australian Colonies. And, beyond question,
one feature in the Free Church that drew them and
bound them to her heart was her noble zeal for and
sacrifices in connection with the work of Missions,
both at home and abroad. For it is a fixed point in
the faith of every Missionary, that the more any
Church or Congregation interests itself in the Heathen,
the more will it be blessed and prospered at Home.
"One of the surest signs of life," wrote the
Victorian Christian Review, "is the effort of a
Church to spread the Gospel beyond its own bounds,
and especially to send the knowledge of Jesus amongst
the Heathen. The Missions to the Aborigines, to
the Chinese in this Colony, and to the New Hebrides,
came to this Church from God. In a great crisis of
the New Hebrides, they sent one of their number to
Australia for help, and his appeal was largely owned
by the Head of the Church. The Children, and
especially the Sabbath Scholars of the Presbyterian
Churches, became alive with Missionary enthusiasm.
Large sums were raised for a Mission Ship. The
Congregations were roused to see their duty to God
and their fellow-men beyond these Colonies, and a
new Missionary Spirit took possession of the whole
Church. Their deputy from the Islands agreed to
become the Missionary from this Church. Many
circumstances indeed combined to show that it was
the will of the Master, that this Church should join
P. 6
82 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
the other Presbyterian Churches in taking possession
of this field of usefulness ; and already the results
are very important both to the Church and to the
Mission. The Missionaries feel much encouraged in
receiving substantial support from the largest Presby-
terian Church in the Australian Colonies ; while the
Presbyterian Church in Victoria is largely blessed in
her own spirit through the Missionary zeal awakened
in her midst. Thus, there is that scattereth and yet
increaseth ; bringing out anew the words of the Lord
Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than
to receive."
But, in all this, I am rather anticipating. My tour
through Scotland brought me into contact with every
Minister, Congregation, and Sabbath School in the
Church of my fathers. They were never at any time
a rich people, but they were always liberal. At this
time they contributed beyond all previous experi-
ence, both in money and in boxes of useful articles
for the Islanders.
Unfortunately, my visit to the far North, to our
Congregations at Wick and Stromness, had been
arranged for the month of January ; and thereby a
sore trial befell me in my pilgrimages. The roads were
covered with snow and ice. I reached Aberdeen and
Wick by steamer from Edinburgh, and had to find my
way thence to Thurso. The inside seats on the Mail
Coach being all occupied, I had to take my place
outside. The cold was intense, and one of my feet
got bitten by the frost. The storm detained me
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 83
nearly a week at Thurso, but feeling did not return
to the foot.
We started, in a lull, by steamer for Stromness ;
but the storm burst again, all were ordered below,
and hatches and doors made fast. The passengers
were mostly very rough, the place was foul with
whisky and tobacco. I appealed to the Captain to
let me crouch somewhere on deck, and hold on as
best I could. He shouted, —
" I dare not ! You'll be washed overboard."
On seeing my appealing look, he relented, directed
his men to fasten a tarpaulin over me, and lash it
and me to the mast, and there I lay till we reached
Stromness. The sea broke heavily and dangerously
over the vessel. But the Captain, finding shelter for
several hours under the lee of a headland, saved
both the ship and the passengers. When at last we
landed, my foot was so benumbed and painful that I
could move a step only with greatest agony. Two
meetings, however, were in some kind of way con-
ducted ; but the projected visit to Dingwall and othei
places had to be renounced, the snow lying too deep
for any conveyance to carry me, and my foot crying
aloud for treatment and skill.
On returning Southwards, I was confined for about
two months, and placed under the best medical
advice. All feeling seemed gradually to have de-
parted from my foot ; and amputation was seriously
proposed both in Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Having
somehow managed to reach Liverpool, my dear friend,
84 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
the Rev. Dr. Graham, took me there to a Doctor
who had wrought many wonderful recoveries by gal-
vanism. Time after time he applied the battery, but
I felt nothing. He declared that the power used would
almost have killed an ordinary man, and that he had
never seen any part of the human body so dead to
feeling on a live and healthy person. Finally, he
covered it all over with a dark plaster, and told me
to return in three days. But next day, the throbbing
feeling of insufferable coldness in the foot compelled
me to return at once. After my persistent appeals,
he removed the plaster; and, to his great astonish-
ment, the whole of the frosted part adhered to it !
Again dressing the remaining parts, he covered it with
plaster as before, and assured me that with care and
rest it would now completely recover. By the bless-
ing of the Lord it did, though it was a bitter trial to
me amidst all these growing plans to be thus crippled
by the way ; and to this day I am sometimes warned
in over-walking that the part is capable of many a
painful twinge. And humbly I feel myself crooning
over the graphic words of the Greatest Missionary,
" I bear about in my body the marks of the Lord
Jesus."
On that tour, the Sabbath Schools joyfully adopted
my scheme, and became "shareholders" in the
Mission Ship. It was thereafter ably developed by
an elder of the Church. A Day spring collecting box
has found its way into almost every family ; and the
returns from Scotland have yielded ever since about
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 85
^"250 per annum, as their proportion for the expenses
of the Children's Mission Ship to the New Hebrides.
The Church in Nova Scotia heartily accepted the
same idea, and their Sabbath School children have
regularly contributed their £250 per annum too.
The Colonial children have contributed the rest,
throughout all these years, with unfailing interest.
And whensoever the true and full history of the
South Sea Islands Mission is written for the edifica-
tion of the Universal Church, let it not be forgotten
that the children of Australasia, and Nova Scotia,
and Scotland did by their united pennies keep the
Dayspring floating in the New Hebrides ; that the
Missionaries and their families were thereby supplied
with the necessaries of life, and that the Islanders
were thus taught to clothe themselves and to sit at
the feet of Jesus. This was the Children's Holy
League, erewhile referred to ; and one knows that on
such a Union the Divine Master smiles well pleased.
The Lord also crowned this tour with another
precious fruit of blessing, though not all by any
means due to my influence. Four new Missionaries
volunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova
Scotia. By their aid we not only reclaimed for
Jesus the posts that had been abandoned, but we
took possession of other Islands in His most blessed
Name. But I did not wait and take them out with
me. They had matters to look into and to learn
about, that would be infinitely helpful to them in the
Mission field. Especially, and far above everything
86 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
else, in addition to their regular clerical course, some
Medical instruction was an almost absolute pre-
requisite. I myself had attended several Medical
Classes at the Andersonian College, when a student
in Glasgow, and had had personal training from an
experienced physician. This had proved invaluable,
not only on the Islands, but in the remote bush
during Australian tours, and indeed on many private
occasions, when other medical help was unavailable.
Every future Missionary was therefore urged to
obtain all insight and instruction that was practic-
able at Medical Missions and otherwise, especially on
lines known to be most requisite for these Islands.
For this, and similar objects, all that I raised over
and above what was required for the Dayspring was
entrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the
new Missionaries might be fully equipped, and their
outfit and travelling expenses be provided for with-
out burdening the Church at home. Her responsi-
bilities were already large enough for her resources.
But she could give men, God's own greatest gift, and
His people elsewhere gave the money, — the Colonies
and the Home Country thus binding themselves to
each other in this Holy Mission of the Cross.
But I did not return alone. The dear Lord had
brought to me one prepared, all unknown to either
of us, by special culture, by godly training, by many
gifts and accomplishments, and even by family associ-
ations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her
heart was stirred with a yearning to aid and teach
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 87
those who were sitting in darkness ; her brother had
been an honoured Missionary in the foreign field,
and had fallen asleep while the dew of youth was yet
upon him ; her sister was the wife of a devoted
Minister of our Church in Adelaide, both she and
her husband being zealous promoters of our work ;
and her father had left behind him a fragrant memory
through his many Christian works in all the Stirling
district, and not unknown to fame as the author of
the still popular books of Anecdotes, illustrative of the
Shorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere
I left Scotland in 1864, I was married to Margaret
Whitecross, and God spares us to each other still ;
and the family which He has been pleased in His love
to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service,
with the prayer and hope that He may use every
one of them in spreading the Gospel throughout the
Heathen World.
Our marriage was celebrated at her sister's house
in Edinburgh ; and I may be pardoned for recalling
a little event that characterized the occasion. My
youngest brother, then tutor to a gentleman studying
at the University, stepped forth at the close of the
ceremony and recited an EpitJialamium composed
for the day. For many a month and year the
refrain, a play upon the Bride's name, kept singing
itself through my memory : —
u Long may the Whitecross banner wave
By the battle blasts unriven ;
Long may our Brother and Sister brave
Rejoice in the light of Heaven."
88 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
He described the Bride as hearing a u Voice from the
far Pacific Seas " ; and turning to us both, he sang
of an Angel beckoning us to the Tanna-land, to
gather a harvest of souls : —
u The warfare is brief, the crown is bright,
The pledge is the souls of men;
Go, may the Lord defend the Right,
And restore you safe again ! ,;
But the verse which my dear wife thought most
beautiful for a bridal day, and which her memory
cherishes still, was this : —
M May the ruddy Joys, and the Graces fair,
Wait fondly around you now ;
Sweet angel Hopes and young Loves repair
To your home and bless your vow ! "
My last scene in Scotland was kneeling at the
family altar in the old Sanctuary Cottage at Torthor-
wald, while my venerable father, with his high-priestly
locks of snow-white hair streaming over his shoul-
ders, commended us once again to "the care and
keeping of the Lord God of the families of Israel."
It was the last time that ever on this Earth those
accents of intercession, loaded with a pathos of
deathless love, would fall upon my ears. I knew to
a certainty that when we rose from our knees and
said farewell, our eyes would never meet again till
they were flooded with the lights of the Resurrection
Day. But he and my darling mother gave us away
once again with a free heart, not unpierced with the
sword of human anguish, to the service of our com-
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. Sg
mon Lord and to the Salvation of the Heathen.
And we went forth, praying that a double portion of
their spirit, with their precious blessing, might rest
upon us in all the way that we had to go.
Our beloved mother, always more self-restrained,
and less demonstrative in the presence of others,
held back her heart till we were fairly gone from the
door ; and then, as my dear brother afterwards in-
formed me, she fell back into his arms with a great
cry, as if all the heart-strings had broken, and lay for
long in a death-like swoon. Oh, all ye that read this
page, think most tenderly of the cries of Nature,
even where Grace and Faith are in perfect triumph.
Read, through scenes like these, a fuller meaning into
the words addressed to that blessed Mother, whose
Son was given for us all, " Yea, a sword shall pierce
through thine own soul also."
Here, in passing, I may mention that my mother,
ever beloved, " fell on sleep," after a short agony of
affliction, in 1865 ; and my "priest-like father" passed
peacefully and joyfully into the presence of his Lord
in 1868; both cradled and cherished to the last in the
arms of their own affectionate children, and both in
the assured hope of a blessed immortality, where all
their sons and daughters firmly expect to meet them
again in the Home prepared by their blessed Saviour.
We embarked at Liverpool for Australia in TJie
Crest of the Wave, Captain Ellis ; and after what
was then considered a fast passage of ninety-five
days, we landed at Sydney on 17th January, 1865.
SO TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
Within an hour we had to grapple with a new and
amazing perplexity. The Captain of our Dayspring
came to inform me that his ship had arrived three
days ago and now lay in the stream,— that she had
been to the Islands, and had settled the Gordons,
McCullaghs, and Goodwills on their several Stations,
—that she had left Halifax in Nova Scotia fourteen
months ago, and that now, on arriving at Sydney, he
could not get one penny of money, and that the crew
were clamouring for their pay, etc., etc. He con-
tinued, "Where shall I get money for current ex-
penses ? No one will lend unless we mortgage the
Dayspring. I fear there is nothing before us but to
sell her ! " I gave him £^o of my own to meet
clamant demands, and besought him to secure me a
day or two of delay that something might be done.
Having landed, and been heartily welcomed by
dear Dr. and Mrs. Moon and other friends, I went
with a kind of trembling joy to have my first look at
the Dayspring, like a sailor getting a first peep at
the child born to him whilst far away on the sea.
Some of the irritated ship's company stopped us by
the way, and threatened prosecution and all sorts of
annoyance. I could only urge again for a few days'
patience. I found her to be a beautiful two-masted
Brig, with a deck-house (added when she first arrived
at Melbourne), and every way suitable for our neces-
sities,— a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel set
a-floating by the pennies of the children to bear the
Gospel to these sin-darkened but sun-lit Southern
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 91
Isles. To me she became a sort of living thing, the
impersonation of a living and throbbing love in the
heart of thousands of " shareholders " ; and I said,
with a deep, indestructible faith, — " The Lord has
provided — the Lord will provide."
For present liabilities at least ^"700 were instantly
required ; and, at any rate, as large a sum to pay her
way and meet expenses of next trip to the Islands.
Having laid our perplexing circumstances before our
dear Lord Jesus, having " spread out " all the details
in His sympathetic presence, pleading that the Ship
itself and the new Missionaries were all His own, not
mine, I told Him that this money was needed to do
His own blessed work.
On Friday morning, I consulted friends of the
Mission, but no help was visible. I tried to borrow,
but found that the lender demanded twenty per cent,
for interest, besides the title deeds of the ship for
security. I applied for a loan from the agent of the
London Missionary Society (then agent for us too)
on the credit of the Reformed Presbyterian Church's
Foreign Committee, but he could not give it without
a written order from Scotland. There were some
who seemed rather to enjoy our perplexity 1
Driven thus to the wall, I advertised for a meeting
of Ministers and other friends, next morning at 11
o'clock, to receive my report and to consult re the
Dayspring. I related my journeyings since leaving
them, and the results, and then asked for advice
about the ship.
92 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
" Sell her," said some, "and have done with it."
"What," said others, "have the Sabbath Schools
given you the Dayspring^ and can you not support
her yourselves ? "
I pointed out to them that the salary of each Mis-
sionary was only £120 per annum, that they gave
their lives for the Heathen, and that surely the Colo-
nial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the
Ship, which was necessary to the very existence of
the Mission. I appealed to them that, as my own
Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad
for every six Ministers at home, and the small Pres-
byterian Church of Nova Scotia had actually three
Missionaries now on our Islands, it would be a
blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and
Sabbath Schools to keep the Dayspring afloat, with-
out whose services the Missionaries could not live nor
the Islanders be evangelized.
Being Saturday, the morning Services for Sabbath
were all arranged for, or advertised ; but Dr. McGib-
bon offered me a meeting for the evening, and Dr.
Steel an afternoon Service at three o'clock, combined
with his Sabbath School. Rev. Mr. Patterson, of
Piermont, offered me a morning Service ; but, as his
was only a Mission Church, he could not give me a
collection. These openings I accepted, as from the
Lord, however much they fell short of what I de-
sired.
At the morning Service I informed the Congrega-
tion how we were situated, and expressed the hope
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 93
that under God and their devoted pastor they would
greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in
supporting our Mission to their South Sea neigh-
bours. Returning to the vestry, a lady and gentle-
man waited to be introduced to me. They were
from Launceston, Tasmania.
" I am," said he, " Captain and owner of that vessel
lying at anchor opposite the Dayspring. My wife
and I, being too late to get on shore to attend any
Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell ring-
ing, and followed, when we saw you going up the
stairs. We have so enjoyed the Service. We do
heartily sympathize with you. This cheque for ,£50
will be a beginning to help you out of your diffi-
culties."
The reader knows how warmly I would thank
them ; and how in my own heart I knew Who it was
that made them arrive too late for their plans, but
not for His, and guided them up that Chapel stair,
and opened their hearts. Jehovah-Jireh !
At three o'clock, Dr. Steel's Church was filled with
children and others. I told them in my appeal what
had happened in the Mission Chapel, and how God
had led Captain Frith and his wife, entire strangers,
to sound the first note of our deliverance. One man
stood up and said, " I will give £10." Another,
" I will give £$." A third, " I shall send you £20
to-morrow morning." Several others followed their
example, and the general collection was greatly en-
couraging
94 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
In the evening, I had a very large as well as sym-
pathetic Congregation. I fully explained the diffi-
culty about the DayspHng, and told them what God
had already done for us, announcing an address to
which contributions might be sent. Almost every
Mail brought me the free-will offerings of God's
people ; and on Wednesday, when the adjourned
meeting was held, the sum had reached in all ^456.
Believing that the Lord thus intervened at a vital
crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the praise of
His blessed Name. Trust in Him, obey Him, and
He will not suffer you to be put to shame.
At a public meeting, held immediately thereafter,
an attempt was made to organize the first Australian
Mission Auxiliary to the New Hebrides ; but it
needed an enthusiastic secretary, and for lack thereof
came to nothing at that time. At another meeting,
the first elements of a brooding strife appeared. The
then Agent of the noble and generous London Mis-
sionary Society intimated that he had just issued
Collecting Cards for the John Williams, and that it
would be unbrotherly to urge collections for the Day-
spring at the same time throughout New South
Wales. He suggested that I should first visit Tas-
mania and South Australia, and that, on our return,
they would help us as we would now help them.
The most cordial feelings had always prevailed be-
twixt the Societies, and we accepted the proposal,
though our circumstances were peculiarly trying, and
I personally believed that no harm, but good, would
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 95
come from both of us doing everything possible to
fan the Missionary spirit.
Clearing out from her sister ships, then in harbour,
the John Williams and the John Wesley, our little
Dayspring sailed for Tasmania. At Hobart we were
visited by thousands of children and parents, and
afterwards at Launceston, who were proud to see
their own ship, in which they were " shareholders "
for Jesus. Daily, all over the Colony, I preached in
Churches and addressed public meetings, and got
collections, and gave out Collecting Cards to be re-
turned within two weeks. But here also the little
rift began to show itself. At a public meeting in
Hobart, the Congregational Minister said, —
" We support the John Williams for the London
Missionary Society. Let the Presbyterians do as
much for the Dayspring!"
I replied, that I was there by special invitation
from those who had called the meeting, and that,
rather than have any unseemly wrangling, my friend,
Dr. Nicolson, and I would quietly retire. But the
Chairman intervened, and insisted that the meeting
should go forward in a Christian spirit, and without
any word of recrimination. To find ourselves, even
by a misunderstanding, regarded as inimical to the
London Missionary Society, one of the most Catholic-
spirited and Christlike Societies in the world, was
peculiarly painful. Still the little rift seemed to
widen at every turn, and we found ourselves thrown
more and more exclusively on Presbyterians alone.
96 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
But thus also the hearts of two great Communions
were concentrated on Heathendom, where one only
or chiefly had been bearing the burden heretofore.
And the Lord hath need of all.
We received many tokens of interest and sympathy.
The steam tug was granted to us free, and the har-
bour dues were remitted. Many presents were also
sent on board the Dayspring. Still, after meeting all
necessary outlays, the trip to Tasmania gave us only
£227 8s. 1 id. clear for the Mission fund.
Sailing now for South Australia, we arrived at
Adelaide. Many friends there showed the deepest
interest in our plans. Thousands of children and
parents came to visit their own Mission Ship by
several special trips. Daily and nightly I addressed
meetings, and God's people were moved greatly in
the cause. After meeting all expenses while in port,
there remained a sum of £634 ox id. for the up-keep
of the vessel. The Honourable George Fife Angus
gave me £241 — a dear friend belonging to the Bap-
tist Church. But there was still a deficit of ^"400
before the Dayspring could sail free of debt, and my
heart was sore as I cried for it to the Lord.
Leaving the ship to sail direct for Sydney, I took
steamer to Melbourne ; but, on arriving there, sickness
and anxiety laid me aside for three days. Under
great weakness, I crept along to my dear friends at
the Scotch College, Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, and Miss
Fraser, and threw myself on their advice.
" Come along," said the Doctor cheerily, " and I'll
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK, 97
introduce you to Mr. Butchart and one or two friends
in East Melbourne, and we'll see what can be done ! "
I gave all information, being led on in conversation
by the Doctor, and tried to interest them in our work,
but no subscriptions were asked or received. Ere I
sailed for Sydney, however, the whole deficiency was
sent to me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum
of £1,726 gs. lod. Our Day spring once more sailed
free, and our hearts overflowed with gratitude to the
Lord and to His stewards !
On my return to Sydney, and before sailing to the
Islands, I called, by advertisement, a public meeting
of Ministers and other friends to report success, and
to take counsel for the future.
My report was received with hearty thanksgiving
to Almighty God. And a resolution was unanimously
adopted, in view of all that had transpired, urging
that a scheme must be organized, whereby the Presby-
terian Churches and Sabbath Schools of Australia
should be banded together for the support of the
Dayspring, and so prevent the necessity of such
spasmodic efforts for all future time.
From that day, practically, the Dayspring was sup-
ported by the Presbyterians alone. At the first, all
helped in the original purchase of the Mission Ship,
and she was to do all needful work on the Loyalty
Islands for the London Society's Missionaries, as well
as on the New Hebrides for us. This was the agree-
ment ; and, despite little misunderstandings with the
Agents, the Dayspring was for some years placed
P. 7
98 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK.
heartily at their service. When the John Williams
was wrecked, our ship, at great loss and expense,
accompanied her to Sydney, and spent four months
of the following year for them entirely amongst the
Eastern Islands. The brethren on the Loyalty Is-
lands sent up their Mr. Macfarland to the Colonies
to secure that the promised support should be given
by their friends to the D ay spring ; but, this failing,
they in 1870 declined finally to have her doing their
work, when no longer paid for by their Churches.
This little rift, however, amongst the contributing
Churches never affected us in the Mission field ; they
and we have ever wrought together there in most
perfect cordiality of brotherhood.
Perhaps the true way to look upon the whole series
of events is this : the Australian Presbyterian Churches
had been led to hear from God a special call, and
must necessarily organize themselves to answer it.
In this blessed work of converting the Heathen, we
can all loyally rejoice, whether the instruments in the
Lord's hand be Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Congre-
gational ! I glory in the success of every Protestant
Mission, and daily pray for them all. It was God's
own wise providence, and not my zeal, wise or in-
trusive, that matured these arrangements, and gave
the Australian Presbyterian Churches a Mission Ship
of their own, and a Mission field at their doors. The
Ministers and the Sabbath Schools felt constrained
as by one impulse to undertake this gracious work.
The Presbyterian Churches in all these Colonies re-
TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 99
ceived this duty as from God ; and the organizing
of Missionary Societies in Congregations and Sabbath
Schools, for the effective accomplishment of the same,
has been a principal means in the hands of the Lord
of promoting and uplifting the cause of Christ through-
out Australasia. It is worth while to re-travel that
old road once again, were it for no other purpose than
to show how, despite apparent checks and reverses,
the mighty tide of Divine Love moves resistlessly on-
ward, covers up temporary obstructions, and claims
everything for Jesus.
CHAPTER IV.
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
First of Missionary Duties. — Mare" and Noumea. — The French
in the Pacific— The Cura^oa Affair. — The "Gospel and
Gunpowder" Cry. — The Missionaries on their Defence.—
The Mission Synod's Report.— The Shelling of the Tan-
nese Villages. — Public Meeting and Presbytery.— Fighting
at Bay.— Federal Union in Missions. — A Fiery Furnace at
Geelong. — Results of Australian Tour. — New Hebrides
Mission Adopted by Colonies.
WE went down to the Islands with the Dayspring
in 1865. The full story of the years that
had passed was laid before my Missionary brethren
at their Annual Synod. They resolved that perma-
nent arrangements must now be made for the Vessel's
support, and that I must return to the Colonies and
see these matured. This, meantime, appeared to all
of them the most clamant of all Missionary duties, —
their very lives, and the existence of the Mission it-
self, depending thereon. The Lord seemed to leave
me no alternative; and, with great reluctance, my
back was again turned away from the Islands. The
Dayspring, doing duty among the Loyalty Islands,
left me, along with my dear wife, on Mar6, there to
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 101
await an opportunity of getting to New Caledonia,
and thence to Sydney.
Detained there for some time, we saw the noble
work done by Messrs. Jones and Creagh, of the Lon-
don Missionary Society, all being cruelly undone by
the tyranny and Popery of the French. One day,
in an inland walk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a large
Conventicle in the bush. They were teaching each
other, and reading the Scriptures which the Mission-
aries had translated into their own language, and
which the French had forbidden them to use. They
cried to God for deliverance from their oppressors !
Missionaries were prohibited from teaching the Gospel
to the Natives without the permission of France ; their
books were suppressed, and they themselves placed
under military guard on the island of Lifu. Even
when, by Britain's protest, the Missionaries were al-
lowed to resume their work, the French language was
alone to be used by them ; and some, like Rev. J
Jones (as far down as 1888), were marched on board
a Man-of-war, at half an hour's notice, and, without
crime laid to their charge, forbidden ever to return
to the Islands. While, on the other hand, the French
Popish Missionaries were everywhere fostered and
protected, presenting to the Natives as many objects
of idolatry as their own, and following, as is the
custom of the Romish Church in those Seas, in the
wake of every Protestant Mission, to pollute and to
destroy.
Being detained also for two weeks on Noumea, we
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
saw the state of affairs under military rule. English
Protestant residents, few in number, appealed to me
to conduct worship, but liberty could not be obtained
from the authorities, who hated everything English.
But a number of Protestant parents, some French,
others English and German, applied to me to baptize
their children at their own houses. To have asked
permission would have been to court refusal, and to
falsify my position. I laid the matter before the Lord,
and baptized them all. Within two days the Private
Secretary of the Governor arrived with an interpreter,
and began to inquire of me, —
" Is it true that you have been baptizing here ? "
I replied quite frankly, " It is."
"We are sent to demand on whose authority."
" On the authority of my Great Master."
" When did you get that authority ? "
" When I was licensed and ordained to preach the
Gospel, I got that authority from my Great Master."
Here a spirited conversation followed betwixt the
two in French, and they politely bowed, and left me.
Very shortly they returned, saying, —
II The Governor sends his compliments, and he
wishes the honour of a visit from you at Government
House at three o'clock, if convenient for you."
I returned my greeting, and said that I would
have pleasure in waiting upon his Excellency at the
appointed hour. I thought to myself that I was in
for it now, and I earnestly cried for Divine guidance.
He saluted me graciously as "de great Missionary
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 103
of de New Hebrides." He conversed in a very friendly
manner about the work there, and seemed anxious to
find any indication as to the English designs. I had
to deal very cautiously. He spoke chiefly through
the interpreter ; but, sometimes dismissing him, he
talked to me as good, if not better, English himself.
He was eager to get my opinions as to how Britain
got and retained her power over the Natives. After
a very prolonged interview, we parted without a single
reference to the baptisms or to religious services !
That evening the Secretary and interpreter waited
upon us at our Inn, saying, —
" The Governor will have pleasure in placing his
yacht and crew at your disposal to-morrow. Mrs.
Paton and you can sail all round, and visit the Convict
island, and the Government gardens, where lunch will
be prepared for you."
It was a great treat to us indeed. The crew were
in prison garments, but all so kind to us. By Convict
labour all the public works seemed to be carried on,
and the Gardens were most beautiful. The carved
work in bone, ivory, cocoa-nuts, shells, etc., was in-
deed very wonderful. We bought a few specimens,
but the prices were beyond our purse. It was a
strange spectacle — these things of beauty and joy,
and beside them the chained gangs of fierce and
savage Convicts, kept down only by bullet and
sword !
Thanking the Governor for his exceeding kindness,
I referred to their Man-of-war about to go to Sydney,
104 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
and offered to pay full passage money if they would
take me, instead of leaving me to wait for a " trader."
He at once granted my request, and arranged that
we should be charged only at the daily cost for the
sailors. At his suggestion, however, I took a number
of things on board with me, and presented them to
be used at the Cabin table. We were most generously
treated, — the Captain giving up his own room to my
wife and myself, as they had no special accommodation
for passengers.
Noumea appeared to me at that time to be wholly
given over to drunkenness and vice, supported as a
great Convict settlement by the Government of
France, and showing every extreme of reckless,
worldly pleasure, and of cruel, slavish toil. When I
saw it again, three-and-twenty years thereafter, it
showed no signs of progress for the better. In his
book on the French Colonies, J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S.,
says that even yet Noumea and its dependencies con-
tain only 1,068 Colonists from France. If there be
a God of justice and of love, His blight cannot but
rest on a nation whose pathway is stained with cor-
ruption and steeped in blood, as is undeniably the
case with France in the Pacific Isles.
Arriving at Sydney, I was at once plunged into a
whirlpool of horrors. H.M.S. Curagoa had just re-
turned from her official trip to the Islands, in which
the Commodore, Sir William Wiseman, had thought
it his duty to inflict punishment on the Natives for
murder and robbery of Traders and others. On these
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. K»5
Islands, as in all similar cases, the Missionaries had
acted as interpreters, and of course always used their
influence on the side of mercy, and in the interests of
peace. But Sydney, and indeed Australia and the
Christian World, were thrown into a ferment just a
few days before our arrival, by certain articles in a
leading publication there, and by the pictorial illus-
trations of the same. They were professedly from
an officer on board Her Majesty's ship, and the sen-
sation was increased by their apparent truthfulness
and reality. Tanna was the scene of the first event,
and a series was to follow in succeeding numbers.
The Curaqoa was pictured lying off the shore, having
the Dayspring in tow. The Tannese warriors were
being blown to pieces by shot and shell, and lay in
heaps on the bloody coast And the Missionaries
were represented as safe in the lee of the Man-of-war,
directing the onslaught, and gloating over the carnage.
Without a question being asked or a doubt sug-
gested, without a voice being raised in fierce denial
that such men as these Missionaries were known to
be could be guilty of such conduct — men who had
jeoparded their lives for years on end rather than hurt
one hair on a Native's head — a cry of execration,
loud and deep and even savage, arose from the Press,
and was apparently joined in by the Church itself.
The common witticism about the " Gospel and Gun-
powder" headed hundreds of bitter and scoffing articles
in the journals ; and, as we afterwards learned, the
shocking news had been telegraphed to Britain and
io6 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
America, losing nothing in force by the way, and
while filling friends of Missions with dismay, was
dished up day after day with every imaginable en-
hancement of horror for the readers of the secular
and infidel Press. As I stepped ashore at Sydney,
I found myself probably the best-abused man in all
Australia, and the very name of the New Hebrides
Mission stinking in the nostrils of the People.
The gage of battle had been thrown and fell at my
feet. Without one moment's delay, I lifted it in the
name of my Lord and of my maligned brethren.
That evening my reply was in the hands of the
editor, denying that such battles ever took place,
retailing the actual facts of which I had been myself
an eye-witness, and intimating legal prosecution unless
the most ample and unequivocal withdrawal and
apology were at once published. The Newspaper
printed my rejoinder, and made satisfactory amends
for having been imposed upon and deceived. I
waited upon the Commodore, and appealed for his
help in redressing this terrible injury to our Mission.
He informed me that he had already called his
officers to account, but that all denied any connection
with the articles or the pictures. He had little doubt,
all the same, that some one on board was the promp-
ter, who gloried in the evil that was being done to
the cause of Christ. He offered every possible assist-
ance, by testimony or otherwise, to place all the
facts before the Christian public and to vindicate out
Missionaries.
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 107
The outstanding facts are best presented in the
following extract from the official report of the
Mission Synod : —
"When the New Hebrides Missionaries were as-
sembled at their annual meeting on Aneityum,
H.M.S. Curagoa, Sir Wm. Wiseman, Bart., C.B.,
arrived in the harbour to investigate many grievances
of white men and trading vessels among the Islands.
A petition having been previously presented to the
Governor in Sydney, as drawn out by the Revs.
Messrs. Geddie and Copeland, after the murder of
Mr. and Mrs. Gordon on Erromanga, requesting an
investigation into the sad event, and the removal of a
Sandal-wood trader, a British subject, who had ex-
cited the Natives to it,— the Missionaries gave the
Commodore a memorandum on the loss of life and
property that had been sustained by the Mission on
Tanna, Erromanga, and Efate. He requested the
Missionaries to supply him with interpreters, and
requested the Day spring to accompany him with
them. The request was at once acceded to. Mr.
Paton was appointed to act as interpreter for Tanna,
Mr. Gordon for Erromanga, and Mr. Morrison for
Efate.
" At each of these Islands, the Commodore sum-
moned the principal Chiefs near the harbours to
appear before him, and explained to them that his
visit was to inquire into the complaints British sub-
jects had made against them, and to see if they had
any against British subjects ; and when he had found
108 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
out the truth he would punish those who had done
the wrong and protect those who had suffered wrong.
The Queen did not send him to compel them to be-
come Christians, or to punish them for not becoming
Christians. She left them to do as they liked in this
matter ; but she was very angry at them because
they had encouraged her subjects to live amongst
them, sold them land and promised to protect them,
and afterwards murdered some of them and at-
tempted to murder others, and stolen and destroyed
their property ; that the inhabitants of these islands
were talked of over the whole world for their
treachery, cruelty, and murders ; and that the Queen
would no longer allow them to murder or injure her
subjects, who were living peaceably among them
either as Missionaries or Traders. She would send a
ship of war every year to inquire into their conduct,
and if any white man injured any Native they were
to tell the captain of the Man-of-war, and the white
man would be punished as fast as the black man."
After spending much time, and using peaceably
every means in his power in trying to get the guilty
parties on Tanna, and not succeeding, he shelled two
villages, — having the day before informed the natives
that he would do so, and advising to have all women,
children, and sick removed, which in fact they did.
He also sent a party on shore to destroy canoes,
houses, etc. The Tannese were astonished, beyond
all precedent, by the terrific display of destructive
power that was exhibited in the harbour. It was
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 109
found impossible to reach the actual murderers ; in
these circumstances the Commodore's object was to
save life and limit himself to the destruction of pro-
perty, and so impress the Natives with some idea
of those tremendous powers of destruction, which lie
slumbering in a Man-of-war, and which can be
awakened and brought into action at any moment.
On Erromanga no lives were lost. On Tanna one
man was wounded ; but, it was reported, three per-
sons were afterwards killed by the bursting of a shell,
when the natives were stripping off its lead to make
balls. It is matter of deep regret that one man of
the party sent on shore v/as shot by a Native con-
cealed in a tree. Against orders he had wandered
from his party, and was in a plantation standing
eating a stick of sugar-cane when he was shot.
As I had orders to act as interpreter for the Com-
modore on Tanna, I will relate what happened there.
From day to day, for three continuous days, he be-
sought the Natives to comply with his wishes. He
warned them that if they did not, he would shell the
two villages of the Chief who murdered the last white
man at Port Resolution, and destroy his canoes. He
also explained to them, that all who retired to a
large bay in the land of Nowar, the Christian Chief
(if Christian he can be called), would be safe, as he
had protected white men from being murdered ; and
now he would protect his property and all under his
care on this land. The whole of these inhabitants,
young and old, went to Nowar's land and ,were
CONCERNNG FRIENDS AND FOES.
safe, while they witnessed what a Man-of-war could
do in punishing murderers. But, before the hour
approached, multitudes of Tannese warriors had
assembled on the beach, painted and armed and
determined to fight the Man-of-war ! When the
Commodore gave orders to prepare for action, I
approached him and said with tears, —
" O Commodore, surely you are not going to shell
these poor and foolish Tannese ! " Sharply, but not
unkindly, he replied, —
" You are here as interpreter, not as my adviser.
I alone am responsible. You see their defiant atti-
tude. If I leave without punishing them now, no
vessel or white man will be safe at this harbour. You
can go on board your own ship, till I require your
services again."
Indeed he had many counts against them, and his
instructions were explicit. Shortly before that,
Nouka, the Chief of one of the villages, had murdered
a trader with a bar of iron, and another was murdered
at his instigation. Miaki, the Chief of another, had
for many years been ringleader of all mischief and
murder on that side of the island. The Chief of a
village on the other side of the bay was at that
moment assembled with his men on the high ground
within our view, and dancing to a war song in
defiance !
The Commodore caused a shell to strike the hill
and explode with terrific fury just underneath the
dancers. The earth and the bush were torn and
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. Ill
thrown into the air above and around them ; and
next moment the whole host were seen disappearing
over the brow of the hill. Two shots were sent over
the heads of the warriors on the shore, with terrific
noise and uproar ; in an instant, every man was
making haste for Nowar's land, the place of refuge.
The Commodore then shelled the villages, and de-
stroyed their property. Beyond what I have here
recorded, absolutely nothing was done.
We return then for a moment to Sydney. The
public excitement made it impossible to open my
lips in the promotion of our Mission. The Revs.
Drs. Dunsmore Lang and Steel, along with Professor
Smith of the University, waited on the Commodore,
and got an independent version of the facts. They
then called a meeting on the affair by public adver-
tisement. Without being made acquainted with the
results of their investigations, I was called upon to
give my own account of the Curagoa's visit and of the
connection of the Missionaries therewith. They then
submitted the Commodore's statement, given by
him in writing. He exonerated the Missionaries
from every shadow of blame and from all responsi-
bility. In the interests of mercy as well as justice,
and to save life, they had acted as his interpreters ;
and there all that they had to do with the Curagoa
began and ended. All this was published in the
Newspapers next day, along with the speeches of the
three deputies. The excitement began to subside.
But the poison had been lodged in many hearts,
112 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
and the ejectment of it was a slow and difficult
process.
The Presbytery of Sydney held a special meeting,
and I was summoned to appear before it. Dr. Geddie
of Aneityum was also present, being then in the
Colonies. Whether the tide of abuse had turned my
dear fellow- Missionary's head, I cannot tell ; but, on
being asked to make a statement, he condemned the
Missionaries for acting as interpreters, and wound up
with a dramatic exclamation that " rather than have
had anything to do with the Curagoa's visit he would
have had his hand burned off in the fire."
The Court applauded. The Moderator then said :
" Mr. Paton has heard the noble speech of Dr. Geddie.
Let him now solemnly promise that, under no cir-
cumstances, will he have anything to do with a Man-
of-war. Then we may see our way again to stand by
him, and help him in his Mission." And in this spirit,
he appealed to me.
On rising, I explained that I appeared before them
only out of brotherly courtesy, as their Presbytery had
no jurisdiction over me, and I spoke to the following
effect : —
" I am indeed a Missionary to the Heathen, but
also a British subject. I have never requested redress
from Man-of-war, or any civil power ; but, like Paul,
I reserve my full rights, if need be, to appeal unto
Caesar. If any member of this Presbytery has his
house robbed, as a good citizen he seeks redress and
protection. But on Tanna I lost my earthly all, and
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 113
sought no redress from man. The Tannese Chiefs,
indeed, who were friendly, sent a Petition by me to
the Governor of Sydney; which, however, was never
presented to him at all, fearing that thereby indirectly
I might bring punishment upon my poor deluded
Tannese. Others were more convinced as to the
path of duty, or less considerate of the Natives. Their
Petition I now take from my pocket and submit it
to you. It was presented to the Governor, Sir John
Young, after the death of the Gordons, and prayed
for a judicial investigation as to their murders. As
soon it was known of, a counter Petition in the
interests of the Traders was immediately got up and
signed by many of the great merchants of Sydney,
protesting against any such visit to the Islands by a
Man-of-war. This Petition, then, the original and
only one ever presented in favour of a visit from Her
Majesty's Commodore, was drawn up and is signed
— by whom ? "
On Dr. Geddie acknowledging that he had written
and signed that Petition, but that it prayed only for
an investigation, I proceeded, —
" Surely a judicial investigation like this implied all
the after consequences, if once undertaken ! At any
rate, this is the only Petition sent from the Mission-
aries, and it was sent unknown to me. Finally, I
must respectfully inform the Presbytery that I will
never make such a promise as the Moderator has
indicated. I shall remain free to act in humanity
and in justice as God and conscience guide me.
P. 8
114 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
I believe I saved both life and property by inter-
preting for the Commodore, and making things
mutually intelligible to him and to the Natives. I
have done as clear a Christian duty as I ever did in
my life. I am not ashamed. I offer no apology. I do
not believe that in the long run, when all facts are
known, my conduct in this affair can possibly injure
either myself, or, what is more, the Name of my Lord."
Perhaps my words were not too conciliatory. But
excitement so blinded many friends, that I had to
fight as if at bay, or get no hearing and no justice.
The Presbytery hesitated, and closed without coming
to any resolution. All the members of it showed me
thereafter the same respect as ever before. It was
gratifying to learn in due course that all the Churches
supporting our Mission, after having independently
investigated into the facts, justified the course
adopted by us, — Nova Scotia alone excepted. Yet
two of her own Missionaries had also to interpret for
that Man-of-war, exactly as I had done, nor did I
ever hear that any rebuke was administered to them.
Feeling absolutely conscious that I had only done
my Christian duty, I left all results in the hands of my
Lord Jesus, and pressed forward in His blessed work.
More than one dear personal friend had to be
sacrificed over this painful affair. A Presbyterian
Minister, and a godly elder and his wife, all most
excellent and well-beloved, at whose houses I had
been received as a brother, intimated to me that owing
to this case of the Cura$oa their friendship and mine
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 115
must entirely cease in this world. And it did cease ;
but my esteem never changed. I had learned not to
think unkindly of friends, even when they manifestly
misunderstood my actions. Nor would these things
merit being recorded here, were it not that they may
be at once a beacon and a guide. God's people are
still belied. And the multitude are still as ready as
ever to cry, " Crucify ! Crucify ! "
The scheme for meeting the yearly cost of the
Dayspring, that had already been tentatively set
a-going, had now to be matured and permanently
organized. In this my dear friend Dr. J. Dunsmore
Lang, well acquainted with the resources of all the
Churches, was our judicious counsellor. We pro-
posed that Victoria should raise £500 ; New South
Wales and New Zealand, £200 each ; Tasmania,
Queensland, and South Australia, ;£ioo each, and
£250 each from Novia Scotia and Scotland. Tas-
mania, South Australia, and Queensland fell a little
short of their proportion ; Sydney, Scotland, and
Novia Scotia met their claims ; and Victoria and
New Zealand exceeded them, and made up for
deficiency in others. This has ever since been done
in great measure, though not exclusively, by the
Sabbath Scholars of the Churches, through their
Dayspring " Mission-boxes." In organizing and
maturing this scheme, I visited and addressed al-
most every Presbyterian Congregation and Sabbath
School in New South Wales and Victoria, South
Australia and Tasmania ; and Ministers and Super-
Il6 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
intendents, with scarcely an exception, came to be
bound together in a true federal union in support
of our Mission and our Ship.
For the first three years, when everything was new,
the Day spring cost us about £1,400 per annum ; but
since then she has cost on an average little short of
£2,000 over all. There has too often been a floating
debt of £300 or more, which has given us great
anxiety ; but the Lord has sent what was required,
and enabled us to keep her sailing with the Gospel
and His servants amongst these Islands, free of any
actual burden, — His own pure messenger of Good
Tidings, unstained with the polluting and bloody
associations of the foul-winged trading Ships !
Another fiery furnace awaited me on this tour,
when I reached Geelong. One of the prominent
Ministers refused to shake hands. An agent of the
London Missionary Society had informed them " that
the £3,000 paid for the Dayspring had been thrown
away, that the Vessel was useless, fitted only for
carrying stores, and having no accomodation for pas-
sengers ; and that on her second trip to the Islands
our Missionaries had to wait and go down by the
John Williams? It was an abiding sorrow to me,
that local misrepresentations gave the Societies an
appearance of conflict, whereof the parent organi-
zations knew nothing whatever. But, for all the
interests at stake, facts had to be made known.
Several Congregations had resolved to withdraw
from the support of our Mission ; and several
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES 117
Ministers at Ballarat, and elsewhere, were by similar
accounts prejudiced against us.
I demanded an opportunity of stating the facts,
and vindicating myself and others, in a public
meeting duly called for the purpose. They at once
agreed. I wrote once and a second time to the
Agent, but got no answer, only an evasive note.
I went by rail and saw him. He would give no ex-
planation, or authority for his statements, but practi-
cally put me out, on a pretence of there being sickness
at the house. Nevertheless, in a spirit of determined
brotherhood, I resolved only to explain facts about
the Dayspring, and not to drag in the name of that
great sister Society which he so poorly served.
There was a crowded meeting. The Minister who
refused to shake hands was voted to the chair. I
was called upon to explain my position. By this
time I had communicated with the Dayspring offi-
cials, and, producing the log-book, I read from it,
regarding the voyage referred to, the following : —
"When the Dayspring sailed from Sydney for
the Islands, she had as passengers on board, Rev.
Mr. Paton, Mrs. Paton, and child, Rev. Mr. McNair
and Mrs. McNair, Rev. Mr. Niven and Mrs. Niven,
Mrs. Ella and child, of the London Missionary
Society, Captain Fraser, Mrs. Fraser, child, and ser-
vant, besides all the year's Mission supplies for both
the New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands. And
on reaching these Islands, as the French Government
had ordered the removal of all the Eastern Teachers
Ii8 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
of the London Missionary Society from that group,
the Dayspring had to undertake an unexpected
voyage of three months from the Loyalties to Samoa,
Rarotonga, etc., with Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Sleigh of the
London Missionary Society, and sixty-one of their
Native Teachers, who, along with their families, were
all in health landed safely on their respective islands,
as passengers by the Dayspring?
I also read a corroborative narrative from Captain
Fraser, written from memory, as he was at that time
far inland in the country, and had not access to the
records of his vessel. And my statement closed to
this effect, —
" It must now be manifest to all, that the damaging
reports circulated in Geelong are more than replied
to. By the Captain, and from the log, they are
proved to be false, both as to capacity for goods and
passengers. At present the Dayspring is everything
that could be desired for the furtherance of our Mis-
sion. If you are satisfied, I wish to leave this painful
subject, and proceed with my proper work. But I am
prepared to answer any question from the Chairman
or the meeting, and to give the fullest information."
The round of applause that followed was my com-
plete vindication. The Chairman gave me his hand,
and pledged his utmost support He proposed the
following resolution, which was carried with ac-
clamation,—
"That this meeting, having heard Mr. Paton with
satisfaction, pledges the Churches, Sabbath Schools,
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. no
and friends in Geelong, henceforth to support the Day-
spring and the New Hebrides Mission to the utmost
of their power, and to receive and encourage him as
much as ever in his work on behalf of the Mission."
The special object of my visit was then explained,
and several Ministers and others spoke heartily in
furtherance of the proposals for the permanent sup-
port of the Dayspring through the Sabbath Schools.
All battles through mere misunderstandings are
painful, but especially those amongst Christian
brethren. Still they had to be fought, never laying
aside the weapons of the Cross ; and God has over-
ruled them for the promotion of His Kingdom in a
way which makes all Catholic-spirited followers of
the Lord Jesus equally rejoice.
On this tour, in Victoria alone, I spent 250 days and
addressed 265 meetings, representing 180 Congre-
gations and their Sabbath Schools. The proportion
was on the same scale in the other Colonies visited.
And all these arrangements I had to make for my-
self, by painful and laborious correspondence night
and day. But the Lord's blessing was abundantly
vouchsafed. Victoria gave £1,954 19^. ^d ; Tasmania,
£76 12s. jd. ; South Australia, £222 16s. ; New
South Wales, £249; being a total of £2,503 "]s. iod.,
besides £220 in yearly donations of £5, promised
for the maintenance of the Native Teachers.
In 1862 I appealed to the Victorian General As-
sembly to take up the New Hebrides Mission as
their own. The appeal was followed by Rev. J
J20 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES.
Clark, Convener of Heathen Missions Committee in
1863, getting the Assembly to accept the proposal.
And in 1865 the Rev. Dr. A. J. Campbell carried our
scheme, and the Assembly pledged itself to give
^"500 per annum for the support of the Dayspring,
from the offerings of the Sabbath Schools. New
Zealand and other Colonies soon followed Victoria's
example, until all were pledged to uphold the New
Hebrides Mission. For my dear friend and old
College companion, Rev. Joseph Copeland, had
visited at the same time Queensland and New
Zealand, and had received from them respectively
£101 2s. 4d. and £580; so that all the Churches
adopted our scheme for the permanent support of
the Dayspring, and the Mission fund had now a fair
balance on the right side.
At the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church of Victoria in 1866, I was adopted — being
officially transferred from the Church in Scotland —
as the first Missionary from the Presbyterian Churches
of Australia to the New Hebrides.. Dr. Geddie
would also have been adopted at the same time, but
Novia Scotia could not agree to part with its first
and most highly-honoured Missionary. The Vic-
torian Church therefore engaged the Rev. James
Cosh, M.A., on his way out from Scotland, as its
other agent, in the hope that we two might be able
to re-open and carry on the Tanna Mission. In their
Christian Review of 1867, they said : —
"The idea which we in Victoria had, when the
CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 121
Missionaries left us in July last was, that Messrs.
Paton and Cosh would be associated on Tanna, and
labour for its evangelization, under the special
auspices as well as at the cost of the Presbyterian
Church of Victoria; but Mr. Cosh, having chosen
the station at Pango on Efate, where the Natives
were more prepared for the Gospel, and where life
and property were safe, went to spend a year's
novitiateship with Mr. and Mrs. Morrison on Efate.
Mr. Paton would have fain gone back to Tanna, but
the Missionaries generally feared that no one Euro-
pean life would have been safe at the time on Tanna.
They therefore, and no doubt wisely, sent Mr. Paton
to the small and less savage, but not less Heathen,
Island of Aniwa."
It was indeed one of the bitterest trials of my life,
not to be able to return and settle down at once on
dear old Tanna ; but I could not go alone, against
the decided opposition of all the other Missionaries—
Dr. Inglis, however, at last sympathizing most strongly
with my views. I went, as will appear hereafter, to
Aniwa, the nearest island to the scene of my former
woes and perils, in the hope that God would soon
open up my way and enable me to return to blood-
stained Tanna.
My heart bleeds for the Heathen, and I long to
see a Teacher for every tribe and a Missionary for
every island of the New Hebrides. The hope still
burns that I may witness it ; and then I could gladly
rest
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
The John Williams on the Reef. — A Native's Soliloquy.—
Nowar Pleading for Tanna. — The White Shells of Nowar.
— The Island of Anivva. — First Landing on Aniwa. — The
Site of our New Home.—" Me no Steal ! "—House Building
for God. — Native Expectations.— Tafigeitu or Sorcery. —
The Miracle of Speaking Wood. — Perils through Super-
stition.— The Mission Premises. — A City of God. — Builders
and their Wages. — Great Swimming Feat. — Stronger than
the " Gods " of Aniwa.
EVERYTHING being now arranged for in the
Colonies, in connection with the Mission and
Dayspring, as far as could possibly be, we sailed for
the Islands on the 8th August, 1866. Besides my
wife and child, the following accompanied us to the
field : Revs. Copeland, Cosh, and McNair, along
with their respective wives. On August 20th we
reached Aneityum ; and, having landed some of our
friends, we sailed Northwards, as far as Efate, to
let the new Missionaries see all the Islands open for
occupation, and to bring all our Missionaries back to
the annual meeting, where the permanent settlements
would be finally agreed upon.
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. 123
On our return, we found that the beautiful new
John Williams, reaching Aneityum on 5th of Sep-
tember, had stuck fast on the coral reef and swung
there for three days. By the unceasing efforts of
the Natives, working in hundreds, she was saved,
though badly damaged. At a united meeting of all
the Missionaries, representing the London Mission-
ary Society and our own, it was resolved that she
must be taken to Sydney for repairs. Twenty stout
Aneityumese were placed on board to keep her
pumps going by day and night, and the Dayspring
was sent to keep her company in case of any dire
emergency. Missionaries were waiting to be settled,
and the season was stealing away. But the cause
of humanity and the claims of a sister Mission were
paramount. We remained at Aneityum for five
weeks, and awaited the return of the Dayspring.
At our annual Synod, after much prayerful
deliberation and the careful weighing of every vital
circumstance, I was constrained by the united voice
of my brethren not to return to Tanna, but to settle
on the adjoining island of Aniwa ( = A-ne^-wa). It
was even hoped that thereby Tanna might eventually
be the more surely reached and evangelized.
By the new Missionaries all the other old Stations
were re-occupied and some fresh Islands were entered
upon in the name of Jesus. As we moved about
with our Dayspring, and planted the Missionaries
here and there, nothing could repress the wonder of
Natives.
124 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
" How is this ? " they cried ; " we slew or drove
them all away ! We plundered their houses and
robbed them. Had we been so treated, nothing
would have made us return. But they come back
with a beautiful new ship, and with more and more
Missionaries. And is it to trade and to get money,
like the other white men ? No ! no ! But to tell
us of their Jehovah God and of His Son Jesus. If
their God makes them do all that, we may well
worship Him too."
In this way, island after island was opened up to
receive the Missionary, and their Chiefs bound them-
selves to protect and cherish him, before they knew
anything whatever of the Gospel, beyond what they
saw in the disposition and character of its Preachers
or heard rumoured regarding its fruits on other
Islands. Even Cannibals have sometimes been found
thus prepared to welcome the Missionary, and to
make not only his property but his life comparatively
safe. The Isles " wait " for Christ.
On our way to Aniwa, the Dayspring had to call
at Tanna. By stress of weather we lay several days
in Port Resolution. And there many memories
were again revived — wounds that after five-and-
twenty years, when I now write, still bleed afresh !
Nowar, the old Chief, unstable but friendly, was
determined to keep us there by force or by fraud.
The Captain told him that the council of the
Missionaries had forbidden him to land our boxes
at Tanna.
SETTLEMENT ON AN1WA. 125
"Don't land them," said the wily Chief; "just
throw them over ; my men and I will catch every-
thing before it reaches the water, and carry them all
safely ashore ! "
The Captain said he durst not. " Then," persisted
Nowar, "just point them out to us; you will have
no further trouble ; we will manage everything for
Missi."
They were in distress when he refused ; and poor
old Nowar tried another tack. Suspecting that my
dear wife was afraid of them, he got us on shore to
see his extensive plantations. Turning eagerly to
her, he said, leaving me to interpret, —
" Plenty of food ! While I have a yam or a
banana, you shall not want."
She answered, " I fear not any lack of food."
Pointing to his warriors, he cried, " We are many !
We are strong ! We can always protect you."
" I am not afraid," she calmly replied.
He then led us to that fig-tree, in the branches of
which I had sat during a lonely and memorable
night, when all hope had perished of any earthly
deliverance, and said to her with a manifest touch of
genuine emotion, —
" The God who protected Missi there will always
protect you."
She told him that she had no fear of that kind,
but explained to him that we must for the present
go to Aniwa, but would return to Tanna, if the
Lord opened up our way. Nowar, Arkurat, and the
126 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
rest, seemed to be genuinely grieved, and it touched
my soul to the quick.
A beautiful incident was the outcome, as we
learned only in long after years. There was at that
time an Aniwan Chief on Tanna, visiting friends.
He was one of their great Sacred Men. He and
his people had been promised a passage home in the
Dayspring, with their canoes in tow. When old
Nowar saw that he could not keep us with himself,
he went to this Aniwan Chief, and took the white
shells, the insignia of Chieftainship, from his own
arm, and bound them on the Sacred Man, saying, —
"By these you promise to protect my Missionary
and his wife and child on Aniwa. Let no evil be-
fall them ; or, by this pledge, I and my people will
revenge it."
In a future crisis, this probably saved our lives,
as shall be afterwards related. After all, a bit of
the Christ-Spirit had found its way into that old
Cannibal's soul ! And the same Christ-Spirit in me
yearned more strongly still, and made it a positive
pain to pass on to another Island, and leave him in
that dim-groping twilight of the soul.
Aniwa became my Mission Home in November,
1866 ; and ever since, save on my, alas ! too frequent
deputation pilgrimages among Churches in Great
Britain and in the Colonies, it has been the heart
and centre of my personal labours amongst the
Heathen. God never guided me back to Tanna ;
but others, my dear friends, have seen His Kingdom
SETTLEMEN7 ON ANIWA. lay
planted and beginning to grow amongst that slowly
relenting race. Aniwa was to be the land wherein my
past years of toil and patience and faith were to see
their fruits ripening at length. I claimed Aniwa for
Jesus, and by the Grace of God Aniwa now worships
at the Saviour's feet.
The Island of Aniwa is one of the smaller isles of
the New Hebrides. It measures about nine miles by
three and a half, and is everywhere girt round with
a belt of coral reef. The sea breaks thereon heavily,
with thundering roar, and the white surf rolls in
furious and far. But there are days of calm, when
all the sea is glass, and the spray on the reef is only
a fringe of silver.
The ledges of coral rock indicate that Aniwa
has been heaved up from its ocean bed, at three or
four separate bursts of mighty volcanic power. No
stone or other rock anywhere appears, but only and
always the coral, in its beautiful and mysterious
variety. The highest land is less than three hundred
feet above the level of the sea ; and though the soil
is generally light, there are patches good and deep,
mostly towards the southern end of the island, and
near the crater of an extinct volcano, where excellent
plantations are found, and which, if carefully culti-
vated, might support ten times the present popula-
tion.
Aniwa, having no hills to attract and condense the
clouds, suffers badly for lack of genial rains ; and
the heavy rains of hurricane and tempest seem to
128 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
disappear as if by magic through the light soil and
porous rock. The moist atmosphere and the heavy
dews, however, keep the Island covered with green,
while large and fruitful trees draw wondrous nourish-
ment from their rocky beds. The Natives suffer
from a species of Elephantiasis, in all probability
produced by their bad drinking waters, and from the
hot and humid climate of their isle.
Aniwa has no harbour, or safe anchorage of any
kind for ships ; though, in certain winds, they have
been seen at anchor on the outer edge of the reef,
always a perilous haven ! There is one crack in the
coral belt, through which a boat can safely run to
shore ; but the little wharf, built there of the largest
coral blocks that could be rolled together, has been
once and again swept clean off by the hurricane,
leaving " not a wrack behind."
I had had a glimpse of Aniwa before, in the John
Knox, when Mr. Johnston accompanied me ; and
again with my dear friend Gordon, who was mur-
dered on Erromanga; besides, I had seen Aniwans in
their canoes at Tanna in search of food. They had
pleaded with us to remain amongst them, arguing
against there being two Missionaries on Tanna and
none on Aniwa. Their " orator," a very subtle man,
who spoke Tannese well, informed us that the white
Traders told them that if they killed or drove away
the Missionaries they would get plenty of ammuni-
tion and tobacco. This was why our life had been
so often attempted. Beyond this all was strange.
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. 129
Everything had to be learned afresh on Aniwa, as on
Tanna.
When we landed, the Natives received us kindly.
They and the Aneityumese Teachers led us to a
temporary home, prepared for our abode. It was a
large Native Hut. Walls and roof consisted of
sugar-cane leaf and reeds, intertwisted on a strong
wooden frame. It had neither doors nor windows,
but open spaces instead of these. The earthen
floor alone looked beautiful, covered thick with white
coral broken small. It had only one Apartment; and
that, meantime, had to serve also for Church and
School and Public Hall. We screened off a little
portion, and behind that screen planted our bed,
and stored our valuables. All the Natives within
reach assembled to watch us taking our food ! A
box at first served for a chair, the lid of another
box was our table, our cooking was all done in the
open air under a large tree, and we got along with
amazing comfort. But the house was under the
shelter of a coral rock, and we saw at a glance that
at certain seasons it would prove a very hotbed of
fever and ague. We were, however, only too thank-
ful to enter it, till a better could be built, and on a
breezier site.
The Aniwans were not so violently dishonourable
as the Tannese. But they had the knack of asking
in a rather menacing manner whatever they coveted ;
and the tomahawk was sometimes swung to enforce
an appeal. For losses and annoyance, we had of
p. 9
130 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
course no redress. But we tried to keep things
well out of their way, knowing that the oppor-
tunity there, as elsewhere, sometimes develops the
thief. We strove to get along quietly and kindly,
in the hope that when we knew their language, and
could teach them the principles of Jesus, they would
be saved, and life and property would be secure.
But the rumour of the CuraqocCs visit and her punish-
ment of murder and robbery did more, by God's
blessing, to protect us during those Heathen days
than all other influences combined. The savage
Cannibal was heard to whisper to his bloodthirsty
mates, " not to murder or to steal, for the Man-of-
war that punished Tanna would blow up their little
Island!"
Sorrowful experience on Tanna had taught us to
seek the site for our Aniwan house on the highest
ground, and away from the malarial swamps near
the shore. There was one charming mound, covered
wiih trees whose roots ran down into the crevices of
coral, and from which Tanna and Erromanga are
clearly seen. But there the Natives for some super-
stitious reason forbade us to build, and we were
constrained to take another rising-ground somewhat
nearer the shore. In the end, this turned out to be
the very best site on the Island for us, central and
suitable every way. But we afterwards learned that
perhaps superstition also led them to sell us this
site, in the malicious hope that it would prove our
ruin. The mounds on the top, which had to be
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. I3»
cleared away, contained the bones and refuse of their
Cannibal feasts for ages. None but their Sacred
Men durst touch them ; and the Natives watched us
hewing and digging, certain that their gods would
strike us dead! That failing, their thoughts may
probably have been turned to reflect that after all
the Jehovah God was stronger than they. In level-
ling the site, and gently sloping the sides of the
ground for good drainage purposes, I had gathered
together two large baskets of human bones. I said
to a Chief in Tannese, —
" How do these bones come to be here ? "
And he replied, with a shrug worthy of a cynical
Frenchman, —
" Ah, we are not Tanna men 1 We don't eat the
bones ! "
While I was away building the house, Mrs. Paton
had one dreadful fright. She generally remained
about half a mile off, in charge of the Native hut in
which our property had been stored, with one or
two of the friendly Natives around her, though as yet
she could not speak their language. One day she sat
alone, the baby playing at her feet. A rustling com-
menced amongst the boxes behind the curtain. She
had been there all the morning, and no one had
entered. Horror-smitten, her eyes were fastened
towards the noise. Suddenly, the blanket-screen
was thrown aside, and a black face, with blood-red
eyes and milk-white teeth peered out, and cried in
broken English, —
132 SETTLEMENT ON AN1WA.
" Me no steal ! Me no steal ! "
Then, with a bound like that of a deer, the man
sprang out and ran for the village. My dear wife,
fearing his sudden return, snatched up her child and
rushed to the place where I was working, never feel-
ing the ground beneath her till she sank down almost
fainting at my feet. Thanking God for her escape,
we thought it wiser to remain where we were and
finish our task for the day. We learned that, since
we did not return, his wrath had cooled down and
he had withdrawn. This man was a sort of wild
beast in his passionate moods. His body became
convulsed and his muscles twitched with rage. He
had lately murdered a neighbour, a man of his own
tribe, in his frenzy. We believe that the Lord
baffled his rage on that memorable day, and said to
his tumultuous soul, — " Peace ! be still."
The site being now cleared, we questioned whether
to build only a temporary home, hoping to return to
dear old Tanna as soon as possible, or, though the
labour would be vastly greater, a substantial house —
for the comfort of our successors, if not of ourselves
We decided that, as this was work for God, we would
make it the very best we could. We planned two
central rooms, sixteen feet by sixteen, with a five-
feet wide lobby between, so that other rooms could
be added when required. About a quarter of a mile
from the sea, and thirty- five feet above its level, I
laid the foundations of the house. Coral blocks
raised the wall about three feet high all round. Ah
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. 133
passages carried sweeping currents underneath each
room, and greatly lessened the risk of fever and ague.
A wide trench was dug all round, and filled up as a
drain with broken coral. At back and front, the
verandah stretched five feet wide; and pantry, bath-
room and tool-house were partitioned off under the
verandah behind. The windows sent to me had
hinges ; I added two feet to each, with wood from
Mission boxes, and made them French door-windows,
opening from each room to the verandah. And so
we had, by God's blessing, a healthy spot to live in,
if not exactly a thing of beauty !
The Mission House, as ultimately finished, had six
rooms, three on each side of the lobby, and measured
ninety feet in length, surrounded by a verandah, one
hundred feet by five, which kept everything shaded
and cool. Underneath two rooms, a cellar was dug
eight feet deep, and shelved all round for a store.
In more than one terrific hurricane that cellar saved
our lives, — all crushing into it when trees and houses
were being tossed like feathers on the wings of the
wind. Altogether, the house at Aniwa has proved
one of the healthiest and most commodious of any
that have been planted by Christian hands on the
New Hebrides. In selecting site and in building
" the good hand of our God was upon us for good."
I built also two Orphanages, almost as inevitably
necessary as the Missionary's own house. They stood
on a line with the front of my own dwelling, one for
girls, the other for boys, and we had them constantly
134 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA*
under our own eyes. The Orphans were practically
boarded at the Mission premises, and adopted by the
Missionaries. Their clothing was a heavy drain upon
our resources ; and every odd and curious article that
came in any of the boxes or parcels was utilized. We
trained these young people for Jesus. And at this
day many of the best of our Native Teachers, and
most devoted Christian helpers, are amongst those
who would probably have perished but for these
Orphanages.
A grievous accident deprived me of special help in
house-building. I cut my ankle badly with an adze,
as I had done before on Tanna, through a knot in the
tree. Binding my handkerchief tightly round it, I
appealed to the Natives to carry me back to our hut.
They stipulated for payment. My vest pocket being
filled with fish-hooks, a current coin on all these
Islands, I got a fellow to understand the bribe. He
carried me a little, got some hooks, and then called
another, who did the same, and then called a third,
and so on, each man earning his hooks, and passing
on the burden and the pay to another, while I suffered
terribly and bled profusely. Being my own doctor,
I dressed the wound for weeks, kept it constantly in
cold water bandages, and by the kindness of the Lord
it recovered, though it left me lame for many a day.
But the greatest sorrow was this : the good and
kind Aneityumese, who had been hired to come and
help me with all the unskilled parts of the labour,
could do nothing without me, and when the Day spring
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. *35
came round at the appointed time I had to pay them
in full and let them return, deprived of their valuable
aid. Even to keep them in food would have ex-
hausted our limited stores, and some months must
elapse before our next supplies could arrive from
Sydney.
The Aniwans themselves could scarcely be induced
to work at all, even for payment. Their personal
wants were few, and were supplied by their own
plantations. They replied to my appeals with all the
unction of philosophers, and told me, —
" The conduct of the men of Aniwa is to stand by,
or sit and look on, while their women do the work ! "
On Aniwa we soon found ourselves face to face
with blank Heathenism. The natives at first expected
that the Missionary's Biritania tavai (= British
Medicine) would cure at once all their complaints.
Disappointment led to resentment in their ignorant
and childish minds. They also expected to get for
the asking, or for any trifle, an endless supply of
knives, calico, fish-hooks, blankets, etc. Every refusal
irritated them. Again, our Medicines relieved or
cured them, so they blamed us also for their diseases,
—all their Sacred Men not only curing but also
causing sickness. Further, they generally came to
us only after exhausting every resource of their own
witchcraft and superstition, and when it was probably
too late. I had often to taste the Medicine in their
sight before the sufferers would touch it ; and if one
dose did not cure them, it was almost impossible to
136 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
get them to persevere. But time taught them its
value, and the yearly expenditure for Medicine soon
became a very heavy tax on our modest salary.
Still we set our bell a-ringing every day after din-
ner— intimating our readiness to give advice or medi-
cine to all who were sick. We spoke to them, so
soon as we had learned, a few words about Jesus.
The weak received a cup of tea and a piece of bread.
The demand was sometimes great, especially when
epidemics befell them. But some rather fled from us
as the cause of their sickness, and sought refuge from
our presence in remotest corners, or rushed off at our
approach and concealed themselves in the bush.
They were but children, and full of superstition ; and
we had to win them by kindly patience, never losing
faith in them and hope for them, any more than the
Lord did with us 1
As on Tanna, all sicknesses and deaths were sup-
posed to be caused by sorcery, there called Nahak,
on Aniwa called Tafigeitu. Some Sacred Man burned
the remains of food such as the skin of a banana, or a
hair from the head, or something that the person had
even touched, and he was the disease-maker. Hence
they were kept in a state of constant terror, and
breathed the very atmosphere of revenge. When
one became sick, all the people of his village met day
after day, and made long speeches and tried to find
out the enemy who was causing it. Having fixed on
some one, they first sent presents of mats, baskets,
and food to the supposed disease-makers ; if the per-
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. 137
son recovered, they took credit for it ; if the person
died, his friends sought revenge on the supposed
murderers. And such revenge took a wide sweep,
satisfying itself with the suspected enemy, or any of
his family, or of his village, or even of his tribe. Thus
endless bloodshed and unceasing intertribal wars
kept the people from one end of the Island to the
other in one long-drawn broil and turmoil.
Learning the language on Aniwa was marked by
similar incidents to those of Tanna, related in Part
First ; though a few of them could understand my
Tannese, and that greatly helped me. One day a
man, after carefully examining some article, turned
to his neighbour and said, —
" Taha tinei ? "
I inferred that he was asking, " What is this ? "
Pointing to another article, I repeated their words ;
they smiled at each other, and gave me its name.
On another occasion, a man said to his companion,
looking towards me, —
" Taha neigo ? "
Concluding that he was asking my name, I pointed
towards him, and repeated the words, and they at
once gave me their names. Readers would be sur-
prised to discover how much you can readily learn of
any language, with these two short questions con-
stantly on your lips, and with people ready at every
turn to answer—" What's this ? " " What's your
name?" Every word was at once written down,
spelled phonetically and arranged in alphabetic
138 SETTLEMENT ON AN1WA.
order, and a note appended as to the circumstances
in which it was used. By frequent comparison of
these notes, and by careful daily and even hourly
imitation of all their sounds, we were able in a mea-
sure to understand each other before we had gone far
in the house-building operations, during which some
of them were constantly beside me.
One incident of that time was very memorable,
and God turned it to good account for higher ends.
I often tell it as " the miracle of the speaking bit of
wood ;" and it has happened to other Missionaries
exactly as to myself. While working at the house,
I required some nails and tools. Lifting a piece of
planed wood, I pencilled a few words on it, and re-
quested our old Chief to carry it to Mrs. Paton, and
she would send what I wanted. In blank wonder, he
innocently stared at me, and said, —
" But what do you want ? "
I replied, " The wood will tell her." He looked
rather angry, thinking that I befooled him, and
retorted, —
" Who ever heard of wood speaking ? "
By hard pleading I succeeded in persuading him
to go. He was amazed to see her looking at the
wood and then fetching the needed articles. He
brought back the bit of wood, and eagerly made
signs for an explanation. Chiefly in broken Tannese
I read to him the words, and informed him that in
the same way God spoke to us through His Book.
The will of God was written there, and by-and-bye,
SETTLEMENT ON ANIIVA. 139
when he learned to read, he would hear God speaking
to him from its page, as Mrs. Paton heard me from
the bit of wood.
A great desire was thus awakened in the poor
man's soul to see the very Word of God printed in
his own language. He helped me to learn words and
master ideas with growing enthusiasm. And when
my work of translating portions of Holy Scripture
began, his delight was unbounded and his help in-
valuable. The miracle of a speaking page was not
less wonderful than that of speaking wood !
One day, while building the house, an old Inland
Chief and his three sons came to see us. Everything
was to them full of wonder. After returning home
one of the sons fell sick, and the father at once
blamed us and the Worship, declaring that if the lad
died we all should be murdered in revenge. By
God's blessing, and by our careful nursing and suit-
able medicine, he recovered and was spared. The
old Chief superstitiously wheeled round almost to
another extreme. He became not only friendly, but
devoted to us. He attended the Sabbath Services,
and listened to the Aneityumese Teachers, and to my
first attempts, partly in Tannese, translated by the
orator Taia or the chief Namakei, and explained in
our hearing to the people in their mother tongue.
But, on the heels of this, another calamity overtook
us. So soon as two rooms of the Mission House
were roofed in, I hired the stoutest of the young men
to carry our boxes thither. Two of them started off
140 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
with a heavy box suspended on a pole from shoulder
to shoulder, their usual custom. They were shortly
after attacked with vomiting of blood ; and one of
them actually died, an Errornangan. The father of
the other swore that, if his son did not get better,
every soul at the Mission House should be slain in
revenge. But God mercifully restored him.
As the boat-landing was nearly three-quarters of a
mile distant, and such a calamity recurring would be
not only sorrowful in itself but perilous in the ex-
treme for us all, I steeped my wits, and, with such
crude materials as were at hand, I manufactured not
only a hand-barrow, but a wheel-barrow, for the press-
ing emergencies of the time. In due course, I pro-
cured a more orthodox hand-cart from the Colonies,
and coaxed and bribed the Natives to assist me in
making a road for it. Perhaps the ghost of Macadam
would shudder at the appearance of that road, but it
has proved immensely useful ever since.
Our Mission House was once and again threatened
with fire, and we ourselves with musket, before its
completion. The threats to set fire to our premises
stirred up Namakei, however, to befriend us ; and we
learned that he and his people had us under a guard
by night and by day. But a savage Errornangan
lurked about for ten days, watching for us with
tomahawk and musket, and we knew that our peril
was extreme. Looking up to God for protection, I
went on with my daily toils, having a small American
tomahawk beside me, and showing no fear. The
SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. 141
main thing was to take every precaution against sur-
prise, for these murderers are all cowards, and will
attempt nothing when observed. I sent for the old
Chief, whose guest the Erromangan was, and warned
him that God would hold him guilty too if our blood
was shed.
" Missi," he warmly replied, " I knew not, I knew
not ! But by the first favourable wind he shall go,
and you will see him no more."
He kept his word, and we were rescued from the
enemy and the avenger.
The site was excellent and very suitable for our
Mission Station. The ground sloped away nearly all
round us, and the pathway up to it was adorned on
each side with beautiful crotons and island plants,
and behind these a row of orange trees. A cocoa-nut
grove skirted the shore for nearly three miles, and
shaded the principal public road. Near our premises
were many leafy chestnuts and wide-spreading bread-
fruit trees. When, in the course of years, everything
had been completed to our taste, we lived practically
in the midst of a beautiful Village, — the Church, the
School, the Orphanage, the Smithy and Joiner's
Shop, the Printing Office, the Banana and Yam
House, the Cook House, etc. ; all very humble in-
deed, but all standing sturdily up there among the
orange trees, and preaching the Gospel of a higher
civilization and of a better life for Aniwa. The little
road leading to each door was laid with the white
coral broken small. The fence around all shone
i42 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
fresh and clean with new paint. Order and taste
were seen to be laws in the white man's New Life ;
and several of the Natives began diligently to follow
our example.
Many and strange were the arts which I had to try
to practise, such as handling the adze, the mysteries
of tenon and mortise, and other feats of skill. If a
Native wanted a fish-hook, or a piece of red calico to
bind his long whip-cord hair, he would carry me a
block of coral or fetch me a beam ; but continuous
daily toil seemed to him a mean existence. The
women were tempted, by calico and beads for pay,
to assist in preparing the sugar-cane leaf for thatch,
gathering it in the plantations, and tying it over reeds
four or six feet long with strips of bark or pandanus
leaf, leaving a long fringe hanging over on one side.
How differently they acted when the Gospel began
to touch their hearts ! They built their Church and
their School then, by their own free toil, rejoicing to
labour without money or price ; and they have ever
since kept them in good repair, for the service of the
Lord, by their voluntary offerings of wood and sugar-
cane leaf and coral-lime.
The roof was firmly tied on and nailed ; thereon
were laid the reeds, fringed with sugar-cane leaf, row
after row tied firmly to the wood ; the ridge was
bound down by cocoa-nut leaves, dexterously plaited
from side to side and skewered to the ridge pole
with hard wooden pins ; and over all, a fresh storm-
roof was laid on yearly for the hurricane months,
SETTLEMENT ON AN1WA. M3
composed of folded cocoa-nut leaves, held down with
planks of wood, and bound to the frame-work below,
— which, however, had to be removed again in April
to save the sugar-cane leaf from rotting beneath it.
There you were snugly covered in, and your thatching
good to last from eight years to ten ; that is, pro-
vided you were not caught in the sweep of the hurri-
cane, before which trees went flying like straws, huts
disappeared like autumn leaves, and your Mission
House, if left standing at all, was probably swept
bare alike of roof and thatch at a single stroke ! Well
for you at such times if you have a good barometer
indicating the approach of the storm; and better
still, a large cellar like ours, four-and-twenty feet by
sixteen, built round with solid coral blocks,— where
goods may be stored, and whereinto also all your
household may creep for safety, while the tornado
tosses your dwelling about, and sets huge trees danc-
ing around you !
We had also to invent a lime kiln, and this proved
one of the hardest nuts of all that had to be cracked.
The kind of coral required could be obtained only at
one spot, about three miles distant. Lying at anchor
in my boat, the Natives dived into the sea, broke off
with hammer and crowbar piece after piece, and
brought it up to me, till I had my load. We then
carried it ashore, and spread it out in the sun to be
blistered there for two weeks or so. Having thus
secured twenty or thirty boat loads, and had it duly
conveyed round to the Mission Station, a huge pit
144 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA.
was dug in the ground, dry wood piled in below, and
green wood above to a height of several feet, and
on the top of all the coral blocks were orderly laid.
When this pile had burned for seven or ten days, the
coral had been reduced to excellent lime, and the
plaster work made therefrom shone like marble.
On one of these trips the Natives performed an ex-
traordinary feat. The boat with full load was struck
heavily by a wave, and the reef drove a hole in her
side. Quick as thought the crew were all in the sea,
and, to my amazement, bearing up the boat with their
shoulder and one hand, while swimming and guiding
us ashore with the other ! There on the land we
were hauled up, and four weary days were spent
fetching and carrying from the Mission Station every
plank, tool, and nail, necessary for her repair. Every
boat for these seas ought to be built of cedar wood
and copper-fastened, which is by far the most econo-
mical in the end. And all houses should be built of
wood which is as full as possible of gum or resin,
since the large white ants devour not only all other
soft woods, but even Colonial blue gum trees, the hard
cocoa-nut, and window sashes, chairs, and tables !
Glancing back on all these toils, I rejoice that
such exhausting demands are no longer made on our
newly arrived Missionaries. Houses, all ready for
being set up, are now brought down from the
Colonies. Zinc roofs and other improvements have
been introduced. The Synod appoints a deputation
to accompany the young Missionary, and plant the
SETTLEMEN1" ON ANIWA. 145
house along with himself at the Station committed to
his care. Precious strength is thus saved for higher
uses; and not only property but life itself is often-
times preserved.
I will close this chapter with an incident which,
though it came to our knowledge only years after-
wards, closely bears upon our Settlement on Aniwa.
At first we had no idea why they so determinedly
refused us one site, and fixed us to another of their
own choice. But after the old Chief, Namakei, be-
came a Christian, he one day addressed the Aniwan
people in our hearing to this effect : —
" When Missi came we saw his boxes. We knew
he had blankets and calico, axes and knives, fish-
hooks and all such things. We said, ' Don't drive
him off, else we will lose all these things. We will
let him land. But we will force him to live on the
Sacred Plot. Our gods will kill him, and we will
divide all that he has amongst the men of Aniwa.'
But Missi built his house on our most sacred spot.
He and his people lived there, and the gods did not
strike. He planted bananas there, and we said, ' Now
when they eat of these they will all drop down dead,
as our fathers assured us, if any one ate fruit from
that ground, except only our Sacred Men themselves.'
These bananas ripened. They did eat them. We
kept watching for days and days, but no one died !
Therefore what we say, and what our fathers have
said, is not true. Our gods cannot kill them. Their
Jehovah God is stronger than the gods of Aniwa."
P. 10
146 SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA
I enforced old Namakei's appeal, telling them that,
though they knew it not, it was the living and true
and only God who had sent them every blessing
which they possessed, and had at last sent us to
teach them how to serve and love and please Him.
In wonder and silence they listened, while I tried to
explain to them that Jesus, the Son of this God, had
lived and died and gone to the Father to save them,
and that He was now willing to take them by the
hand and lead them through this life to glory and
immortality together with Himself.
The old Chief led them in prayer — a strange, dark,
groping prayer, with streaks of Heathenism colouring
every thought and sentence ; but still a heart-break-
ing prayer, as the cry of a soul once Cannibal, but
now being thrilled through and through with the first
conscious pulsations of the Christ-Spirit, throbbing
into the words : " Father, Father ; our Father."
When these poor creatures began to wear a bit of
calico or a kilt, it was an outward sign of a change,
though yet far from civilization. And when they
began to look up and pray to One whom they called
" Father, our Father," though they might be far, very
far, from the type of Christian that dubs itself
" respectable," my heart broke over them in tears of
joy ; and nothing will ever persuade me that there
was not a Divine Heart in the heavens rejoicing too.
CHAPTER VL
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa .— Taia the " Orator."— The
Two next Aneityumese Teachers.— In the Arms of Mur-
derers.—Our First Aniwan Converts. — Litsi Sore. — Sur-
rounded by Torches. — Traditions of Creation, Fall, and
Deluge.— Infanticide and Wife- Murder.— Last Heathen
Dance.— Nelwang's Elopement— Yakin's Bridal Attire.—
Christ-Spirit versus War-Spirit.— Heathenism in Death-
Grips.— A Great Aniwan Palaver.— The Sinking of the
Well.— " Missi's Head Gone Wrong."— "Water ! Living
■Vvater \ ''—Old Chief's Sermon on " Rain from Below."—
The Idols Cast Away.— The New Social Order.— Back of
Heathenism Broken.
ON landing in November, 1866, we found the
Natives of Aniwa, some very shy and dis-
trustful, and others forward and imperious. No
clothing was worn ; but the wives and elder women
had grass aprons or girdles like our first Parents in
Eden. The old Chief interested himself in us and
our work ; but the greater number showed a far
deeper interest in the axes, knives, fish-hooks, stripes
of red calico and blankets, received in payment for
work or for bananas. Even for payment they would
scarcely work at first, and they were most unreason-
148 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
able, easily offended, and started off in a moment at
any imaginable slight.
For instance, a Chief once came for Medicine. I
was so engaged that I could not attend to him for
a few minutes. So off he went, in a great rage,
threatening revenge, and muttering, " I must be
attended to! I won't wait on himV Such are the
exactions of a naked Savage !
Shortly before our arrival, an Aneityumese Teacher
was sacrificed on Aniwa. The circumstances are
illustrative of what may be almost called their wor-
ship of revenge. Many long years ago, a party of
Aniwans had gone to Aneityum on a friendly visit ;
but the Aneityumese, then all Savages, murdered and
ate every man of them save one, who escaped into
the bush. Living on cocoa-nuts, he awaited a favour-
able wind, and, launching his canoe by night, he
arrived in safety. The bereaved Aniwans, hearing
his terrible story, were furious for revenge ; but the
forty- five miles of sea between proving too hard an
obstacle, they made a deep cut in the earth and
vowed to renew that cut from year to year till the
day of revenge came round. Thus the memory of
the event was kept alive for nearly eighty years.
At length the people of Aneityum came to the
knowledge of Jesus Christ. They strongly yearned
to spread that saving Gospel to the Heathen Islands
all around. Amid prayers and strong cryings to Cod
they, like the Church at Antioch, designated two of
their leading men to go as Native Teachers and
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 149
evangelize Aniwa, viz., Navalak and Nemeyan; whilst
others went forth to Fotuna, Tanna, and Erromanga,
as opportunity arose. Namakei, the principal Chief
of Aniwa, had promised to protect and be kind to
them. But as time went on, it was discovered that
the Teachers belonged to the Tribe on Aneityum,
and one of them to the very land, where long ago
the Aniwans had been murdered. The Teachers had
from the first known their danger, but were eager to
make known the Gospel to Aniwa. It was resolved
that they should die. But the Aniwans, having- pro-
mised to protect them, shrank from doing it them-
selves ; so they hired two Tanna men and an Aniwan
Chief, one of whose parents had belonged to Tanna,
to waylay and shoot the Teachers as they returned
from their tour of Evangelism among the villages on
Sabbath afternoon. Their muskets did not go off,
but the murderers rushed upon them with clubs and
left them for dead.
Nemeyan was dead, and entered that day amongst
the noble army of the Martyrs. Poor Navalak was
still breathing, and the Chief Namakei carried him
to his village and kindly nursed him. He pled with
the people that the claims of revenge had been satis-
fied, and that Navalak should be cherished and sent
home, — the Christ-Spirit beginning to work in that
darkened soul ! Navalak was restored to his people,
and is yet living — a high-class Chief on Aneityum
and an honour to the Church of God, bearing on his
body "the marks of the Lord Jesus." And often
ISO FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
since has he visited Aniwa, in later years, and praised
the Lord amongst the very people who once thirsted
for his blood and left him by the wayside as good
as dead !
For a time, Aniwa was left without any witness
for Jesus, — the London Missionary Society Teachers,
having suffered dreadfully for lack of food and from
fever and ague, being also removed. But on a visit
of a Mission vessel, Namakei sent his orator Taia to
Aneityum, to tell them that now revenge was satis-
fied, the cut in the earth filled up, and a cocoa-nut
tree planted and flourishing where the blood of the
Teachers had been shed, and that no person from
Aneityum would ever be injured by Aniwans. Fur-
ther, he was to plead for more Teachers, and to
pledge his Chiefs word that they would be kindly
received and protected. They knew not the Gospel,
and had no desire for it ; but they wanted friendly
intercourse with Aneityum, where trading vessels
called, and whence they might obtain mats, baskets,
blankets, and iron tools. At length two Aneityumese
again volunteered to go, Kangaru and Nelmai, one
from each side of the Island, and were located by the
Missionaries, along with their families, on Aniwa,
one with Namakei, and the other at the south end, to
lift up the Standard of a Christlike life among their
Heathen neighbours.
Taia, who went on the Mission to Aneityum, was
a great speaker and also a very cunning man. He
was the old Chief's appointed " Orator " on all state
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 151
occasions, being tall and stately in appearance, of
great bodily strength, and possessed of a winning
manner. On the voyage to Aneityum, he was con-
stantly smoking and making things disagreeable to
all around him. Being advised not to smoke while
on board, he pled with the Missionary just to let
him take a whiff now and again till he finished the
tobacco he had in his pipe, and then he would lay it
aside. But, like the widow's meal, it lasted all the
way to Aneityum, and never appeared to get less — at
which the innocent Taia expressed much astonish-
ment !
The two Teachers and their wives on Aniwa were
little better than slaves when we landed there, toiling
in the service of their masters and living in constant
fear of being murdered. They conducted the Wor-
ship in Aneityumese, while the Aniwans lay smoking
and talking all round till it was over. The language
of Aniwa had never yet been reduced to a written
form, and consequently no book had been printed in
it. The Teachers and their wives were kept hard at
work on Friday and Saturday, cooking and preparing
food for the Aniwans, who, after the so-called Wor-
ship, feasted together and had a friendly talk. We
immediately put an end to this Sabbath feasting.
That made them angry and revengeful. They even
demanded food, etc., in payment for coming to the
Worship, which we always resolutely refused. Doubt-
less, however, the mighty contrast presented by the
life, character, and disposition of these godly Teachers
152 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
was the sowing of the seed that bore fruit in other
days, — though as yet no single Aniwan had begun
to wear clothing out of respect to Civilization, much
less been brought to know and love the Saviour.
I could now speak a little to them in their own
language ; and so, accompanied generally by my
dear wife and by an Aneityumese Teacher, and often
by some friendly Native, I began to visit regularly
at their villages and to talk to them about Jesus and
His love. We tried also to get them to come to our
Church under the shade of the banyan tree. Nasi
and some of the worst characters would sit scowling
not far off, or follow us with loaded muskets. Using
every precaution, we still held on doing our work ;
sometimes giving fish-hooks or beads to the boys
and girls, showing them that our objects were kind
and not selfish. Such visits gained their confidence.
And however our hearts sometimes trembled in the
presence of imminent death and sank within us, we
stood fearless in their presence, and left all results
in the hands of Jesus. Often have I had to run into
the arms of some savage, when his club was swung
or his musket levelled at my head, and, praying to
Jesus, so clung round him that he could neither
strike nor shoot me till his wrath cooled down and
I managed to slip away. Often have I seized the
pointed barrel and directed it upwards, or, plead-
ing with my assailant, uncapped his musket in the
struggle. At other times, nothing could be said,
nothing done, but stand still in silent prayer, asking
WANT YOU TO TRAIN UTSI FOR JESUS,
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 153
God to protect us or to prepare us for going home
to His Glory. He fulfilled His own promise, — "I
will not fail thee nor forsake thee."
The first Aniwan that ever came to the knowledge
and love of Jesus was the old Chief Namakei. We
came to live on his land, as it was near our diminu-
tive harbour ; and upon the whole, he and his people
were the most friendly ; though his only brother, the
Sacred Man of the tribe, on two occasions tried to
shoot me. Namakei came a good deal about us at
the Mission House, and helped us to acquire the
language. He discovered that we took tea evening
and morning. When we gave him a cup and a piece
of bread, he liked it well, and gave a sip to all around
him. At first he came for the tea, perhaps, and dis-
appeared suspiciously soon thereafter ; but his inter-
est manifestly grew, till he showed great delight in
helping us in every possible way. Along with him,
and as his associates, came also the Chief Naswai
and his wife Katua. These three grew into the
knowledge of the Saviour together. From being
savage Cannibals they rose before our eyes, under
the influence of the Gospel, into noble and beloved
characters ; and they and we loved each other ex-
ceedingly.
Namakei brought his little daughter, his only child,
the Queen of her race, called Litsi Sore* ( = Litsi the
Great), and said, —
" I want to leave my Litsi with you. I want you
to train her for Jesus."
1 54 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
She was a very intelligent child, learned things
like any white girl, and soon became quite a help
to Mrs. Paton. On seeing his niece dressed and so
smart-looking, the old Chiefs only brother, the
Sacred Man that had attempted to shoot me, also
brought his child, Litsi Sisi (= the Little) to be
trained like her cousin. The mothers of both were
dead. The children reported all they saw, and all
we taught them, and so their fathers became more
deeply interested in our work, and the news of the
Gospel spread far and wide. Soon we had all the
Orphans committed to us, whose guardians were
willing to part with them, and our Home became
literally the School of Christ, — the boys growing up
to help all my plans, and the girls to help my wife
and to be civilized and trained by her, and many
of them developing into devoted Teachers and
Evangelists.
Our earlier Sabbath Services were sad affairs.
Every man came armed — indeed, every man slept
with his weapons of war at his side — and bow and
arrow, spear and tomahawk, club and musket, were
always ready for action. On fair days we assembled
under the banyan tree, on rainy days in a Native hut
partly built for the purpose. One or two seemed
to listen, but the most lay about on their backs or
sides, smoking, talking, sleeping ! When we stopped
the feast at the close, for which they were always
ready, the audiences at first went down to two or
three ; but these actually came to learn, and a better
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 155
tone began immediately to pervade the Service.
We informed them that it was for their good that
we taught them, and that they would get no " pay "
for attending Church or School, and the greater
number departed in high dudgeon as very ill-used
persons ! Others of a more commercial turn came
offering to sell their " idols," and when we would not
purchase them but urged them to give them up and
cast them away for love to Jesus, they carried them
off saying they would have nothing to do with this
new Worship.
Amidst our frequent trials and dangers in those
earlier times on Aniwa, our little Orphans often
warned us privately and saved our lives from cruel
plots. When, in baffled rage, our enemies demanded
who had revealed things to us, I always said, " It was
a little bird from the bush." So, the dear children
grew to have perfect confidence in us. They knew
we would not betray them ; and they considered
themselves the guardians of our lives.
The excitement increased on both sides, when a
few men openly gave up their idols. Morning after
morning, I noticed green cocoa-nut leaves piled at
the end of our house, and wondered if it were through
some Heathen superstition. But one night the old
Chief knocked upon me and said, —
" Rise, Missi, and help ! The Heathen are trying to
burn your house. All night we have kept them off,
but they are many and we are few. Rise quickly,
and light a lamp at every window. Let us pray to
156 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
Jehovah, and talk loud as if we were many. God will
make us strong."
I found that they had the buckets and pails from all
my Premises full of water, — that the surrounding bush
was swarming with Savages, torch in hand, — that
the Teachers and other friendly Natives had been
protecting themselves from the dews under the large
cocoa-nut leaves which I saw, while they kept watch
over us. After that I took my turn with them in
watching, each guard being changed after so many
hours. But they held a meeting and said amongst
each other, —
" If our Missi is shot or killed in the dark, what
will we have to watch for then ? We must compel
Missi to remain indoors at night ! "
I yielded so far to their counsel ; but still went
amongst them, watch after watch, to encourage
them.
What a suggestive tradition of the Fall came to
me in one of those early days on Aniwa ! Upon our
leaving the hut and removing to our new house,
it was seized upon by Tupa for his sleeping place ;
though still continuing to be used by the Natives,
as club-house, court of law, etc. One morning at
daylight this Tupa came running to us in great excite-
ment, wielding his club furiously, and crying, —
"Missi, I have killed the Tebil. I have killed
Teapolo. He came to catch me last night. I raised
all the people, and we fought him round the house
with our clubs. At daybreak he came out and I
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 157
killed him dead. We will have no more bad conduct
or trouble now. Teapolo is dead ! "
I said, " What nonsense ! Teapolo is a spirit, and
cannot be seen."
But in mad excitement he persisted that he had
killed him. And at Mrs. Paton's advice, I went with
the man, and he led me to a great Sacred Rock of
coral near our old hut, over which hung the dead body
of a huge and beautiful sea-serpent, and exclaimed,—
" There he lies ! Truly I killed him."
I protested : " That is not the Devil ; it is only the
body of a serpent"
The man quickly answered, " Well, but it is all
the same! He is Teapolo. He makes us bad,
and causes all our troubles."
Following up this hint by many inquiries, then
and afterwards, I found that they clearly associated
man's troubles and sufferings somehow with the ser-
pent They worshipped the Serpent, as a spirit of
evil, under the name of Matshiktshiki ; that is to say,
they lived in abject terror of his influence, and all
their worship was directed towards propitiating his
rage against men.
Their story of Creation, at least of the origin of
their own Aniwa and the adjacent Islands, is much
more an outcome of the Native mind. They say
that Matshiktshiki fished up these lands out of the
sea. And they show the deep print of his foot on
the coral rocks, opposite each island, whereon he
stood as he strained and lifted them up above the
158 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
waters. He then threw his great fishing-line round
Fotuna, thirty-six miles distant, to draw it close
to Aniwa and make them one land; but, as he pulled,
the line broke and he fell into the sea, — so the Islands
remain separated unto this day.
Matshiktshiki placed men and women on Aniwa.
On the southern end of the Island, there was a beau-
tiful spring and a freshwater river, with rich lands all
around for plantations. But the people would not
do what Matshiktshiki wanted them ; so he got angry,
and split off the richer part of Aniwa, with the spring
and river, and sailed thence across to Aneityum, —
leaving them where Dr. Inglis has since built his
beautiful Mission Station. To this day, the river
there is called " the water of Aniwa " by the inhabit
ants of both Islands ; and it is the ambition of all
Aniwans to visit Aneityum and drink of that spring
and river, as they sigh to each other, —
" Alas, for the waters of Aniwa ! "
Their picture of the Flood is equally grotesque.
Far back, when the volcano, now on Tanna, was part
of Aniwa, the rain fell and fell from day to day, and
the sea rose till it threatened to cover everything
All were drowned except the few who climbed up
on the volcano mountain. The sea had already put
out the volcano at the southern end of Aniwa ; and
Matshiktshiki, who dwelt in the greater volcano,
becoming afraid of the extinction of his big fire too,
split it off from Aniwa with all the land on the south-
eastern side, and sailed it across to Tanna on the top
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 159
of the flood. There, by his mighty strength, he
heaved the volcano to the top of the highest moun-
tain of Tanna, where it remains to this day. For, on
the subsiding of the sea, he was unable to transfer
his big fire to Aniwa ; and so it was reduced to a
very small island, without a volcano, and without a
river, for the sins of the people long ago.
Even where there are no snakes they apply the
superstitions about the serpent to a large, black, poi-
sonous lizard called kekvau. They call it Teapolo's ;
and women or children scream wildly at the sight of
one. The Natives of several of our Islands have the
form of the lizard, as also of the snake and the bird
and the face of man, cut deep into the flesh of their
arms. When the cuts begin to heal, they tear open
the figures and press back the skin and force out
the flesh, till the forms stand out above the skin and
abide there as a visible horror for all their remaining
days. When they become Christians and put on cloth-
ing, they are very anxious to cover these reminders of
Heathenism from public view.
The darkest and most hideous blot on Heathenism
is the practice of Infanticide. Only three cases came
to our knowledge on Aniwa ; but we publicly de-
nounced them at all hazards, and awoke not only
natural feeling, but the selfish interests of the com-
munity for the protection of the children. These
three were the last that died there by parents' hands.
A young husband, who had been jealous of his wife,
buried their male child alive as soon as born. An
160 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
old Tanna woman, who had no children living, having
at last a fine healthy boy born to her, threw him into
the sea before any one could interfere to save. And
a Savage, in anger with his wife, snatched her baby
from her arms, hid himself in the bush till night, and
returned without the child, refusing to give any
explanation, except that he was dead and buried
Praise be to God, these three murderers of their own
children were by-and-bye touched with the story of
Jesus, became members of the Church, and each
adopted little orphan children, towards whom they
continued to show the most tender affection and
care.
Wife murder was also considered quite legitimate.
In one of our inland villages dwelt a young couple,
happy in every respect except that they had no
children. The man, being a Heathen, resolved to
take home another wife, a widow with two children.
This was naturally opposed by his young wife. And,
without the slightest warning, while she sat plaiting
a basket, he discharged a ball into her from his loaded
musket. It crashed through her arm and lodged
in her side. Everything was done that was in my
power to save her life ; but on the tenth day tetanus
came on, and she soon after passed away. The man
appeared very attentive to her all the time; but,
being a Heathen, he insisted that she had no right
to oppose his wishes ! He was not in any way pun-
ished or disrespected by the people of his village, but
went out and in amongst them as usual, and took
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 161
home the other woman as his wife a few weeks there-
after. His second wife began to attend Church and
School regularly with her children ; and at last he
also came along with them, changing very manifestly
from his sullen and savage former self. They have
a large family ; they are avowedly trying to train
them all for the Lord Jesus ; and they take their
places meekly at the Lord's Table.
It would give a wonderful shock, I suppose, to
many namby-pamby Christians, to whom the title
" Mighty to Save " conveys no ideas of reality, to be
told that nine or ten converted murderers were par-
taking with them the Holy Communion of Jesus!
But the Lord who reads the heart, and weighs every
motive and circumstance, has perhaps much more
reason to be shocked by the presence of some of
themselves. Penitence opens all the Heart of God —
" To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."
Amongst the heathen, a murderer was often
honoured ; and if he succeeded in terrifying those
who ought to take revenge, he was sometimes even
promoted to be a Chief. One who had thus risen to
tyrannize over his village was so feared and obeyed,
that one of the lads there said to me, —
" Missi, I wish I had lived long ago ! I could have
murdered some great man, and come to honour.
As Christians, we have no prospects ; where are
your warriors ? Are we always to remain common
men ? "
I told him of greatness in the service of Jesus, of
P. II
162 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
glory and honour with our Lord. That lad after-
wards became a Native Teacher, first in his own
village, and then on a Heathen Island, — the Lord
the Spirit having opened up for his ambition the
nobler path.
The last Heathen Dance on Aniwa was intended,
strange to say, in honour of our work. We had
finished the burning of a large lime-kiln for our
buildings, and the event was regarded as worthy of a
festival. To our surprise, loud bursts of song were
followed by the tramp, tramp of many feet. Men
and women and children poured past us, painted,
decorated with feathers and bush twigs, and dressed
in their own wildest form, though almost entirely
nude so far as regards the clothing of civilization.
They marched into the village Public Ground, and
with song and shout and dance made the air hideous
to me. They danced in inner and outer circles, men
with men and women with women ; but I do not
know that the thing looked more irrational to an
outsider than do the balls at home. Our Islanders,
on becoming followers of Jesus, have always volun-
tarily withdrawn from all these scenes, and regard
such dancings as inconsistent with the presence and
fellowship of the Saviour.
On calling one of their leading men and asking him
what it all meant, he said, —
" Missi, we are rejoicing for you, singing and danc-
ing to our gods for you and your works."
I told him that my Jehovah God would be angry
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 163
at His Church being so associated with Heathen
gods. The poor bewildered soul look grieved, and
asked, —
" Is it not good, Missi ? Are we not helping you ? "
I said, " No ! It is not good. I am shocked to see
you. I come here to teach you to give up all these
ways, and to please the Jehovah God."
He went and called away his wife and all his
friends, and told them that the Missi was dis-
pleased. But the others held on for hours, and were
much disgusted that I would not make them a feast
and pay them for dancing ! No other dance was ever
held near our Station on Aniwa.
Some most absurd and preposterous experiences
were forced upon us by the habits and notions of the
people. Amongst these I recall very vividly the
story of Nelwang's elopement with his bride. I had
begun, in spare hours, to lay the foundation of two
additional rooms for our house, and felt rather uneasy
to see a well-known Savage hanging around every
day with his tomahawk, and eagerly watching me
at work. He had killed a man, before our arrival
on Aniwa ; and it was he that startled my wife
by suddenly appearing from amongst the boxes, and
causing her to run for life. On seeing him hovering
so alarmingly near, tomahawk in hand, I saluted
him, —
" Nelwang, do you want to speak to me ? "
"Yes, Missi," he replied, "if you will help me
now, I will be your friend for ever."
164 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
I answered, " I am your friend. That brought mc
here and keeps me here."
" Yes," said he very earnestly, " but I want you to
be strong as my friend, and I will be strong for you ! "
I replied, " Well, how can I help you ? "
He quickly answered, " I want to get married, and
I need your help."
I protested : " Nelwang, you know that marriages
here are all made in infancy, by children being bought
and betrothed to their future husbands. How can I
interfere ? You don't want to bring evil on me and
my wife and child ? It might cost us our lives."
" No ! no ! Missi," earnestly retorted Nelwang.
" No one hears of this, or can hear. Only help me
now. You tell me, if you were in my circumstances,
how would you act ? "
" That's surely very simple," I answered. " Every
man knows how to go about that business, if he wants
to be honest ! Look out for your intended, find out
if she loves you, and the rest will follow naturally, —
you will marry her."
"Yes," argued Nelwang, "but just there my trouble
comes in ! "
" Do you know the woman you would like to get?"
I asked, wishing to bring him to some closer issue.
" Yes," replied he very frankly, " I want to marry
Yakin, the chief widow up at the inland village, and
that will break no infant betrothals."
"But," I persevered, "do you know if she loves
you or would take you ? "
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 165
" Yes," replied Nelwang ; " one day I met her on
the path and told her I would like to have her for
my wife. She took out her ear-rings and gave them
to me, and I know thereby that she loves me. I was
one of her late husband's men ; and if she had loved
any of them more than she did me, she would have
given them to another. With the ear-rings she gave
me her heart."
" Then why," I insisted, " don't you go and marry
her?"
" There," said Nelwang gravely, " begins my diffi-
culty. In her village there are thirty young men
for whom there are no wives. Each of them wants
her, but no one has the courage to take her, for the
other nine-and-twenty will shoot him ! "
"And if you take her," I suggested, "the disap-
pointed thirty will shoot you."
" That's exactly what I see, Missi," continued Nel-
wang ; " but I want you just to think you are in my
place, and tell me how you would carry her off. You
white men can always succeed. Missi, hear my plans,
and advise me."
With as serious a face as I could command, I had
to listen to Nelwang, to enter into his love affair,
and to make suggestions, with a view to avoiding
bloodshed and other miseries. The result of the
deliberations was that Nelwang was to secure the
confidence of two friends, his brother and the oratoi
Taia, to place one at each end of the coral rocks
above the village as watchmen, to cut down with his
1 66 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
American tomahawk a passage through the fence at
the back, and to carry off his bride at dead of night
into the seclusion and safety of the bush ! Nelwang's
eyes flashed as he struck his tomahawk into a tree,
and cried, —
" I see it now, Missi ! I shall win her from them
all Yakin and I will be strong for you all our
days!"
Next morning Yakin's house was found deserted.
They sent to all the villages around, but no one had
seen her. The hole in the fence behind was then dis-
covered, and the thirty whispered to each other that
Yakin had been wooed and won by some daring lover.
Messengers were despatched to all the villages, and
Nelwang was found to have disappeared on the
same night as the widow, and neither could anywhere
be found.
The usual revenge was taken. The houses of the
offenders burned, their fences broken down, and all
their property either destroyed or distributed. Work
was suspended, and the disappointed thirty solaced
themselves by feasting at Yakin's expense. On the
third day I arrived at the scene. Seeing our old
friend Naswai looking on at the plunderers, I sig-
nalled him, and said innocently, —
" Naswai, what's this your men are about ? What's
all the uproar ? "
The Chief replied, " Have you not heard, Missi ? "
" Heard ? " said I. " The whole island has heard
your ongoings for three days ! I can get no peace
to study, or carry on my work."
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 167
" Missi," said the Chief, " Nelwang has eloped with
Yakin, the wealthy widow, and all the young men are
taking their revenge."
" Oh," replied I, " is that all ? Call your men, and
let us speak to them."
The men were all assembled, and I said : " After
all your kindness to Yakin, and all your attention to
her since her husband's death, has she really run away
and left you all ? Don't you feel thankful that you
are free from such an ungrateful woman ? Had one
of you been married to her, and she had afterwards
run away with this man that she loved, that would
have been far worse ! And are you really making
all this noise over such a person, and destroying so
much useful food ? Let these two fools go their way,
and if she be all that you now say, he will have the
worst of the bargain, and you will be sufficiently
avenged. I advise you to spare the fruit trees — go
home quietly — leave them to punish each other — and
let me get on with my work ! "
Naswai repeated my appeal.
" Missi's word is good ! Gather up the food. Wait
till we see their conduct, how it grows. She wasn't
worth all this bother and noise ! "
Three weeks passed. The runaways were nowhere
to be found. It was generally believed that they had
gone in a canoe to Tanna or Erromanga. But one
morning, as I began my work at my house alone, the
brave Nelwang appeared at my side !
" Hillo ! " I said, " where have you come from ? and
where is Yakin ? "
168 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
" I must not," he replied, " tell you yet. We are
hid. We have lived on cocoa-nuts gathered at night.
Yakin is well and happy. I come now to fulfil my
promise : I will help you, and Yakin will help Missi
Paton the woman, and we shall be your friends. I
have ground to be built upon and fenced, whenever
we dare ; but we will come and live with you, till
peace is secured. Will you let us come to-morrow
morning ? "
" All right ! " I said. " Come to-morrow ! " And,
trembling with delight, he disappeared into the
bush.
Thus strangely God provided us with wonderful
assistance. Yakin soon learnt to wash and dress
and clean everything, and Nelwang served me like
a faithful disciple. They clung by us like our very
shadow, partly through fear of attack, partly from
affection ; but as each of them could handle freely
both musket and tomahawk, which, though laid aside,
were never far away, it was not every enemy that
cared to try issues with Nelwang and his bride.
After a few weeks had thus passed by, and as both
of them were really showing an interest in things
pertaining to Jesus and His Gospel, I urged them
strongly to appear publicly at the Church on Sabbath,
to show that they were determined to stand their
ground together as true husband and wife, and that
the others must accept the position and become re-
conciled. Delay now could gain no purpose, and I
wished the strife and uncertainty to be put to an end,
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. l6g
Nelwang knew our customs. Every worshipper
has to be seated, when our little bell ceases ringing.
Aniwans would be ashamed to enter after the Service
had actually begun. As the bell ceased, Nelwang,
knowing that he would have a clear course, marched
in, dressed in shirt and kilt, and grasping very deter-
minedly his tomahawk ! He sat down as near to me
as he rould conveniently get, trying hard to conceal his
manifest agitation. Slightly smiling towards me, he
then turned and looked eagerly at the door through
which the women entered and left the Church, as if
to say, " Yakin is coming ! " But his tomakawk was
poised ominously on his shoulder, and his courage
gave him a defiant and almost impudent air. He
was evidently quite ready to sell his life at a high
price, if any one was prepared to risk the conse-
quences.
In a few seconds Yakin entered ; and if Nelwang's
bearing and appearance were rather inconsistent
with the feeling of worship, — what on earth was I
to do when the figure and costume of Yakin began
to reveal itself marching in ? The first visible differ-
ence betwixt a Heathen and a Christian is, — that the
Christian wears some clothing, the Heathen wears
none. Yakin determined to show the extent of her
Christianity by the amount of clothing she could
carry upon her person. Being a Chiefs widow before
she became Nelwang's bride, she had some idea of
state occasions, and appeared dressed in every article
of European apparel, mostly portions of male attire,
l7o FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
that she could beg or borrow from about the pre-
mises ! Her bridal gown was a man's drab-coloured
great-coat, put on above her Native grass skirts, and
sweeping down to her heels, buttoned tight. Over
this she had hung on a vest, and above that again,
most amazing of all, she had superinduced a pair
of men's trousers, drawing the body over her head,
and leaving a leg dangling gracefully over each of
her shoulders and streaming down her back. Fast-
ened to the one shoulder also there was a red shirt,
and to the other a striped shirt, waving about her
like wings as she sailed along. Around her head
a red shirt had been twisted like a turban, and her
notions of art demanded that a sleeve thereof should
hang aloft over each of her ears ! She seemed to be
a moving monster loaded with a mass of rags. The
day was excessively hot, and the perspiration poured
over her face in streams. She, too, sat as near to
me as she could get on the women's side of the
Church. Nelwang looked at me and then at her,
smiling quietly, as if to say, —
" You never saw, in all your white world, a bride
so grandly dressed ! "
I little thought what I was bringing on myself,
when I urged them to come to Church. The sight
of that poor creature sweltering before me constrained
me for once to make the service very short — perhaps
the shortest I ever conducted in all my life ! The
day ended in peace. The two souls were extremely
happy ; and I praised God that what might have
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 171
been a scene of bloodshed had closed thus, even
though it were in a kind of wild grotesquerie !
Henceforth I never lacked a body-guard, nor Mrs.
Paton a helper. Yakin learned to read and write,
and became an excellent teacher in our Sabbath
school ; she also learned to sing, and led the praise
in Church, when my wife was unable to be present.
In fact, she could put her hand to everything about
the house or the Mission, and became a great
favourite amongst the people. Nelvvang fulfilled his
promise faithfully. He was indeed my friend.
Through all my inland tours, either he or the Sacred
Man, Kalangi (who first attempted twice to shoot
me, and then, after his conversion, acted as if God
had entrusted him with the keeping of my life),
faithfully accompanied me. With tomahawk or
musket, or both in hand, they were always within
reach, and instantly started to the front wherever
danger seemed to threaten us. These were amongst
our first and best Church members. Nelwang and
the Sacred Man have both gone to their rest. But
Yakin of the many garments has also had many
husbands. She rejoices now in her fourth, and is
still a devoted Christian, and a most interesting
character in many ways.
The progress of God's work was most conspicuous
in relation to wars and revenges among the Natives
The two high Chiefs, Namakei and Naswai, frequently
declared, —
" We are the men of Christ now. We must not
172 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
fight. We must put down murders and crimes
among our people."
Two young fools, returning from Tanna with
muskets, attempted twice to shoot a man in sheer
wantonness and display of malice. The Islanders
met, and informed them that if man or woman was
injured by them, the other men would load their
muskets and shoot them dead in public council.
This was a mighty step towards public order, and
I greatly rejoiced before the Lord. His Spirit, like
leaven, was at work !
My constant custom was, in order to prevent war,
to run right in between the contending parties. My
faith enabled me to grasp and realize the promise,
" Lo, I am with you always." In Jesus I felt in-
vulnerable and immortal, so long as I was doing
His work. And I can truly say, that these were the
moments when I felt my Saviour to be most truly
and sensibly present, inspiring and empowering me.
Another scheme had an excellent educative and
religious influence. I tried to interest all the villages,
and to treat all the Chiefs equally. In our early
days, after getting into my two-roomed house, 1
engaged the Chief, or representative man of each
district, to put up one or other of the many out-
houses required at the Station. One, along with
his people, built the cook-house ; another, the store ;
another, the banana and yam-house ; another, the
washing-house ; another, the boys' and girls' house ;
the houses for servants and teachers, the School-
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 173
house, and the large shed, a kind of shelter where
Natives sat and talked when not at work about
the Premises. Of course these all were at first only
Native huts, of larger or smaller dimensions. But
they were all built by contract for articles which
they highly valued, such as axes, knives, yards
of prints and calico, strings of beads, blankets, etc
They served our purpose for the time, and when
another party, by contract also, had fenced around
our Premises, the Mission Station was really a
beautiful little lively and orderly Village, and in
itself no bad emblem of Christian and Civilized life.
The payments, made to all irrespectively, but only
for work duly done and according to reasonable
bargain, distributed property and gifts amongst
them on wholesome principles, and encouraged a
well-conditioned rivalry which had many happy
effects.
Heathenism made many desperate and some
strange efforts to stamp out our Cause on Aniwa, but
the Lord held the helm. One old Chief, formerly
friendly, turned against us. He ostentatiously set
himself to make a canoe, working at it very openly
and defiantly on Sabbaths. He, becoming sick and
dying, his brother started, on a Sabbath morning
and in contempt of the Worship, with an armed
company to provoke our people to war. They re-
fused to fight ; and one man, whom he struck with
his club, said, —
" I will leave my revenge to Jehovah."
174 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
A few days thereafter, this brother also fell sick
and suddenly died. The Heathen party made much
of these incidents, and some clamoured for our death
in revenge, but most feared to murder us ; so they
withdrew and lived apart from our friends, as far
away as they could get. By-and-bye, however, they
set fire to a large district belonging to our supporters,
burning cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees and plan-
tations. Still our people refused to fight, and kept
near to protect us. Then all the leading men
assembled to talk it over. Most were for peace, but
some insisted upon burning our house and driving
us away or killing us, that they might be left to
live as they had hitherto done. At last a Sacred
Man, a Chief who had been on Tanna when the
Curaqoa punished the murderers and robbers but
protected the villages of the friendly Natives there,
stood up and spoke in our defence, and warned them
what might happen ; and other three, who had been
under my instruction on Tanna, declared themselves
to be the friends of Jehovah and of His Missionary.
Finally the Sacred Man rose again, and showed them
rows of beautiful white shells strung round his lsft
arm, saying, —
"Nowar, the great Chief at Port Resolution on
Tanna, when he saw that Missi and his wife could
not be kept there, took me to his heart, and pledged
me by these, the shells of his office as Chief, taken
from his own arms and bound on mine, to protect
them from all harm. He told me to declare to the
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 175
men of Aniwa that if the Missi be injured or slain,
he and his warriors will come from Tanna and take
the full revenge in blood." This turned the scale.
The meeting closed in our favour.
Close on the heels of this, another and a rather
perplexing incident befell us. A party of Heathens
assembled and made a great display of fishing on
the Lord's Day, in contempt of the practice of the
men on Jehovah's side, threatening also to waylay
the Teachers and myself in our village circuits. A
meeting was held by the Christian party, at the
close of the Sabbath Services. All who wished to
serve Jehovah were to come to my house next morn-
ing, unarmed, and accompany me on a visit to our
enemies, that we might talk and reason together
with them. By daybreak, the Chiefs and nearly
eighty men assembled at the Mission, declaring that
they were on Jehovah's side, and wished to go with
me. But, alas ! they refused to lay down their arms,
or leave them behind ; nor would they either refrain
from going or suffer me to go alone. Pledging them
to peace, I was reluctantly placed at their head, and
we marched off to the village of the unfriendly party.
The villagers were greatly alarmed. The Chief's
two sons came forth with every available man to
meet us. That whole day was consumed in talking
and speechifying, sometimes chanting their replies :
the Natives are all inveterate talkers ! To me the
day was utterly wearisome ; but it had one redeeming
feature, — their rage found vent in hours of palaver,
!76 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
instead of blows and blood. It ended in peace. The
Heathen were amazed at the number of Jehovah's
friends ; and they pledged themselves henceforth
to leave the Worship alone, and that every one who
pleased might come to it unmolested. For this, worn
out and weary, we returned, praising the Lord,
But I must here record the story of the Sinking
of the Well, which broke the back of Heathenism
on Aniwa. Being a flat coral island, with no hills
to attract the clouds, rain is scarce there as compared
with the adjoining mountainous islands ; and even
when it does fall heavily, with tropical profusion,
it disappears, as said before, through the light soil
and porous rock, and drains itself directly into the
sea. Hence, because of its greater dryness, Aniwa
is more healthy than many of the surrounding isles ;
though, probably for the same reason, its Natives
are subject to a form of Elephantiasis, known as the
"Barbadoes leg." The Rainy Season is from De-
cember to April, and then the disease most char-
acteristic of all these regions is apt to prevail, viz.,
fever and ague.
At certain seasons, the Natives drank very un-
wholesome water ; and, indeed, the best water they
had at any time for drinking purposes was from the
precious cocoa-nut, a kind of Apple of Paradise for
all these Southern Isles 1 They also cultivate the
sugar-cane very extensively, and in great variety ;
and they chew it, when we would fly to water for
thirst, so it is to them both food and drink. The
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 177
black fellow carries with him to the field, when he
goes off for a day's work, four or five sticks of sugar-
cane, and puts in his time comfortably enough on
these. Besides, the sea being their universal bathing-
place, in which they swattle like fish, and little water,
almost none, being required for cooking purposes,
and none whatever for washing clothes (!), the lack of
fresh springing water was not the dreadful trial to
them that it would be to us. Yet they appreciate and
rejoice in it immensely too ; though the water of the
green cocoa-nut is refreshing, and in appearance, taste,
and colour not unlike lemonade — one nut filling a
tumbler ; and though, when mothers die they feed the
babies on it and on the soft white pith, and they
flourish on the same ; yet the Natives themselves
show their delight in preferring, when they can get
it, the milk from the goat and the water from the
well.
My household felt sadly the want of fresh water.
I prepared two large casks, to be filled when the rain
came. But when we attempted to do so at the
water-hole near the village, the Natives forbade us,
fearing that our large casks would carry all the water
away, and leave none for them with their so much
smaller cocoa-nut bottles. This public water-hole
was on the ground of two Sacred Men, who claimed
the power of emptying and filling it by rain at will.
The superstitious Natives gave them presents to
bring the rain. If it came soon, they took all the
credit for it. If not, they demanded larger gifts to
r. 12
178 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
satisfy their gods. Even our Aneityumese Teachers
said to me, when I protested that surely they could
not believe such things, —
* It is hard to know, Missi. The water does come
and go quickly. If you paid them well, they might
bring the rain, and let us fill our casks ! "
I told them that, as followers of Jehovah, we must
despise all Heathen mummeries, and trust in Him
and in the laws of His Creation to help us.
Aniwa, having therefore no permanent supply of
fresh water, in spring or stream or lake, I resolved
by the help of God to sink a well near the Mission
Premises, hoping that a wisdom higher than my own
would guide me to the source of some blessed spring.
Of the scientific conditions of such an experiment I
was completely ignorant ; but I counted on having
to dig through earth and coral above thirty feet, and
my constant fear was, that owing to our environment,
the water, if water I found, could only be salt water
after all my toils ! Still I resolved to sink that shaft
in hope, and in faith that the Son of God would be
glorified thereby.
One morning I said to the old Chief and his fellow-
Chief, both now earnestly inquiring about the religion
of Jehovah and of Jesus, —
"I am going to sink a deep well down into the
earth, to see if our God will send us fresh water up
from below."
They looked at me with astonishment, and said
in a tone of sympathy approaching to pity, —
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 179
" O Missi ! Wait till the rain comes down, and we
will save all we possibly can for you."
I replied, " We may all die for lack of water. If
no fresh water can be got, we may be forced to leave
you."
The old Chief looked imploringly, and said : " O
Missi ! you must not leave us for that. Rain comes
only from above. How could you expect our Island
to send up showers of rain from below ? "
I told him : " Fresh water does come up springing
from the earth in my Land at home, and I hope to
see it here also."
The old Chief grew more tender in his tones, and
cried : " O Missi, your head is going wrong ; you are
losing something, or you would not talk wild like
that ! Don't let our people hear you talking about
going down into the earth for rain, or they will never
listen to your word or believe you again."
But I started upon my hazardous job, selecting a
spot near the Mission Station and close to the public
path, that my prospective well might be useful to all.
I began to dig, with pick and spade and bucket at
hand, an American axe for a hammer and crowbar,
and a ladder for service by-and-bye. The good old
Chief now told off his men in relays to watch me, lest
I should attempt to take my own life, or do anything
outrageous, saying, —
"Poor Missi! That's the way with all who go
mad. There's no driving of a notion out of their
heads. We must just watch him now. He will find
i8o FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
it harder to work with pick and spade than with his
pen, and when he's tired we'll persuade him to give it
up."
I did get exhausted sooner than I expected, toiling
under that tropical sun ; but we never own before the
Natives that we are beaten, so I went into the house
and filled my vest pocket with large beautiful English-
made fish-hooks. These are very tempting to the
young men, as compared with their own, — skilfully
made though they be out of shell, and serving their
purposes wonderfully. Holding up a large hook, I
cried, — " One of these to every man who fills and
turns over three buckets out of this hole ! "
A rush was made to get the first turn, and back
again for another and another. I kept those on one
side who had got a turn, till all the rest in order
had a chance, and bucket after bucket was filled and
emptied rapidly. Still the shaft seemed to lower
very slowly, while my fish-hooks were disappearing
very quickly. I was constantly there, and took the
heavy share of everything, and was thankful one
evening to find that we had cleared more than twelve
feet deep, — when lo ! next morning, one side had
rushed in, and our work was all undone.
The old Chief and his best men now came around
me more earnestly than ever. He remonstrated with
me very gravely. He assured me for the fiftieth time
that rain would never be seen coming up through
the earth on Aniwa !
"Now," said he, "had you been in that hole
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. iSt
last night, you would have been buried, and a Man-of-
war would have come from Queen Toria to ask for
the Missi that lived here. We would say, ' Down in
that hole.' The Captain would ask, ' Who killed
him and put him down there ? ' We would have to
say, ' He went down there himself!' The Captain
would answer, ' Nonsense ! who ever heard of a white
man going down into the earth to bury himself?
You killed him, you put him there ; don't hide your
bad conduct with lies ! ' Then he would bring out
his big guns and shoot us, and destroy our Island in
revenge. You are making your own grave, Missi,
and you will make ours too. Give up this mad freak,
for no rain will be found by going downwards on
Aniwa. Besides, all your fish-hooks cannot tempt my
men again to enter that hole ; they don't want to be
buried with you. Will you not give it up now ? "
I said all that I could to quiet his fears, explained
to them that this falling in had happened by my
neglect of precautions, and finally made known that
by the help of my God, even without all other help, I
meant to persevere.
Steeping my poor brains over the problem, I be-
came an extemporized engineer. Two trees were
searched for, with branches on opposite sides, capable
of sustaining a cross tree betwixt them. I sank them
on each side firmly into the ground, passed the beam
across them over the centre of the shaft, fastened
thereon a rude home-made pulley and block, passed a
rope over the wheel, and swung my largest bucket to
182 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
the end of it. Thus equipped, I began once more
sinking away at the well, but at so wide an angle
that the sides might not again fall in. Not a Native,
however, would enter that hole, and I had to pick
and dig away till I was utterly exhausted. But a
Teacher, in whom I had confidence, took charge
above, managing to hire them with axes, knives, etc.,
to seize the end of the rope and walk along the
ground pulling it till the bucket rose to the surface,
and then he himself swung it aside, emptied it, and
lowered it down again. I rang a little bell which I
had with me, when the bucket was loaded, and that
was the signal for my brave helpers to pull their
rope. And thus I toiled on from day to day, my
heart almost sinking sometimes with the sinking of
the well, till we reached a depth of about thirty feet.
And the phrase, "living water," "living water," kept
chiming through my soul like music from God, as I
dug and hammered away !
At this depth the earth and coral began to be
soaked with damp. I felt that we were nearing
water. My soul had a faith that God would open a
spring for us ; but side by side with this faith was a
strange terror that the water would be salt. So per-
plexing and mixed are even the highest experiences
of the soul ; the rose-flower of a perfect faith, set
round and round with prickly thorns. One evening
I said to the old Chief, —
" I think that Jehovah God will give us water to-
morrow from that hole ! "
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 183
The Chief said, " No, Missi ; you will never see
rain coming up from the earth on this Island. We
wonder what is to be the end of this mad work of
yours. We expect daily, if you reach water, to see
you drop through into the sea, and the sharks will
eat you ! That will be the end of it ; death to you,
and danger to us all."
I still answered, " Come to-morrow. I hope and
believe that Jehovah God will send you the rain
water up through the earth. At the moment I knew
I was risking much, and probably incurring sorrowful
consequences, had no water been given ; but I had
faith that the Lord was leading me on, and I knew
that I sought His glory, not my own.
Next morning, I went down again at daybreak
and sank a narrow hole in the centre about two feet
deep. The perspiration broke over me with uncon-
trollable excitement, and I trembled through every
limb, when the water rushed up and began to fill the
hole. Muddy though it was, I eagerly tasted it, and
the little "tinny" dropped from my hand with sheer
joy, and I almost fell upon my knees in that muddy
bottom to praise the Lord. It was water ! It was
fresh water ! It was living water from Jehovah's
well ! True, it was a little brackish, but nothing to
speak of ; and no spring in the desert, cooling the
parched lips of a fevered pilgrim, ever appeared more
worthy of being called a Well of God than did that
water to me !
The Chiefs had assembled with their men near by
i&4 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
They waited on in eager expectancy. It was a re-
hearsal, in a small way, of the Israelites coming round,
while Moses struck the rock and called for water.
By-and-bye, when I had praised the Lord, and my
excitement was a little calmed, the mud being also
greatly settled, I filled a jug, which I had taken
down empty in the sight of them all, and ascending
to the top called for them to come and see the rain
which Jehovah God had given us through the well.
They closed around me in haste, and gazed on it in
superstitious fear. The old Chief shook it to see if it
would spill, and then touched it to see if it felt like
water. At last he tasted it, and rolling it in his
mouth with joy for a moment, he swallowed it, and
shouted, " Rain ! Rain ! Yes, it is Rain ! But how
did you get it ?"
I repeated, "Jehovah my God gave it out of His
own Earth in answer to our labours and prayers. Go
and see it springing up for yourselves ! "
Now, though every man there could climb the
highest tree as swiftly and as fearlessly as a squirrel
or an opossum, not one of them had courage to walk
to the side and gaze down into that well. To them
this was miraculous ! But they were not without a
resource that met the emergency. They agreed to
take firm hold of each other by the hand, to place
themselves in a long line, the foremost man to lean
cautiously forward, gaze into the well, and then pass
to the rear, and so on till all had seen "Jehovah's
rain " far below. It was somewhat comical, yet far
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 185
more pathetic, to stand by and watch their faces, as
man after man peered down into the mystery, and
then looked up at me in blank bewilderment ! When
all had seen it with their own very eyes, and were
" weak with wonder," the old Chief exclaimed, —
" Missi, wonderful, wonderful is the work of your
Jehovah God ! No god of Aniwa ever helped us in
this way. But, Missi," continued he, after a pause
that looked like silent worship, " will it always rain
up through the earth ? or, will it come and go like
the rain from the clouds ? "
I told them that I believed it would always con-
tinue there for our use, as a good gift from Jehovah.
" Well, but, Missi," replied the Chief, some glim-
mering of self-interest beginning to strike his brain,
"will you or your family drink it all, or shall we
also have some ? "
" You and all your people," I answered, " and all
the people of the Island may come and drink and
carry away as much of it as you wish. I believe
there will always be plenty for us all, and the more
of it we can use the fresher it will be. That is the
way with many of our Jehovah's best gifts to men,
and for it and for all we praise His Name ! "
" Then, Missi," said the Chief, " it will be our
water, and we may all use it as our very own."
" Yes," I answered, " whenever you wish it, and as
much as you need, both here and at your own
houses, as far as it can possibly be made to go."
The Chief looked at me eagerly, fully convinced at
186 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
length that the well contained a treasure, and
exclaimed, " Missi, what can we do to help you
now ? "
Oh, how like is human nature all the world over !
When one toils and struggles, when help is needed
which many around could easily give and be the
better, not the worse, for giving it, they look on in
silence, or bless you with ungenerous criticism, or
ban you with malicious judgment. But let them
get some peep of personal advantage by helping you,
or even of the empty bubble of praise for offering
it, and how they rush to your aid !
But I was thankful to accept of the Chief's assist-
ance, though rather late in the day, and I said, —
" You have seen it fall in once already. If it falls
again, it will conceal the rain from below which our
God has given us. In order to preserve it for us and
for our children in all time, we must build it round
and round with great coral blocks from the bottom
to the very top. I will now clear it out, and prepare
the foundation for this wall of coral. Let every man
and woman carry from the shore the largest blocks
they can bring. It is well worth all the toil thus to
preserve our great Jehovah's gift ! "
Scarcely were my words repeated, when they
rushed to the shore, with shoutings and songs of
gladness ; and soon every one was seen struggling
under the biggest block of coral with which he dared
to tackle. They lay like limestone rocks, broken up
by the hurricanes, and rolled ashore in the arms of
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 187
mighty billows; and in an incredibly short time scores
of them were tumbled down for my use at the mouth
of the well. Having prepared a foundation, I made
ready a sort of box to which every block was firmly
tied and then let down to me by the pulley, — a
Native Teacher, a faithful fellow, cautiously guiding
it. I received and placed each stone in its position,
doing my poor best to wedge them one against the
other, building circularly, and cutting them to the
needed shape with my American axe. The wall is
about three feet thick, and the masonry may be
guaranteed to stand till the coral itself decays. I
wrought incessantly, for fear of any further collapse,
till I had it raised about twenty feet ; and now,
feeling secure, and my hands being dreadfully cut up,
I intimated that I would rest a week or two, and
finish the building then. But the Chief advanced
and said, —
"Missi, you have been strong to work. Your
strength has fled. But rest here beside us ; and just
point out where each block is to be laid. We will
lay them there, we will build them solidly behind
like you. And no man will sleep till it is done."
With all their will and heart they started on the
job ; some carrying, some cutting and squaring the
blocks, till the wall rose like magic, and a row of the
hugest rocks laid round the top bound all together,
and formed the mouth of the well. Women, boys,
and all wished to have a hand in building it, and it
remains to this day, a solid wall of masonry, the
i?3 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
circle being thirty-four feet deep, eight feet wide at
the top, and six at the bottom. I floored it over with
wood above all, and fixed the windlass and bucket,
and there it stands as one of the greatest material
blessings which the Lord has given to Aniwa. It
rises and falls with the tide, though a third of a mile
distant from the sea ; and when, after using it, we
tasted the pure fresh water on board the Dayspring,
it seemed so insipid that I had to slip a little salt
into my tea along with the sugar before I could enjoy
it ! All visitors are taken to see the well, as one of
the wonders of Aniwa ; and an Elder of the Church
said to me lately, —
" But for that water, during the last two years of
drought, we would all have been dead ! "
Very strangely, though the Natives themselves
have since tried to sink six or seven wells in the
most likely places near their different villages, they
have either come to coral rock which they could not
pierce, or found only water that was salt And they
say amongst themselves, —
"Missi not only used pick and spade, but he
prayed and cried to his God. We have learned to
dig, but not how to pray, and therefore Jehovah will
not give us the rain from below ! "
The well was now finished. The place was neatly
fenced in. And the old Chief said, —
" Missi, now that this is the water for all, we must
take care and keep it pure."
I was so thankful that all were to use it. Had we
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 1&9
alone drawn water therefrom, they could so easily
have poisoned it, as they do the fish-pools, in caverns
among the rocks by the shore, with their nuts and
runners, and killed us all. But there was no fear, if
they themselves were to use it daily. The Chief
continued, —
" Missi, I think I could help you next Sabbath.
Will you let me preach a sermon on the well ? "
" Yes," I at once replied, " if you will try to bring
all the people to hear you."
" Missi, I will try," he eagerly promised. The
news spread like wildfire that the Chief Namakei was
to be the Missionary on the next day for the Worship,
and the people, under great expectancy, urged each
other to come and hear what he had to say.
Sabbath came round. Aniwa assembled in what
was for that island a great crowd. Namakei appeared
dressed in shirt and kilt. He was so excited, and
flourished his tomahawk about at such a rate, that it
was rather lively work to be near him. I conducted
short opening devotions, and then called upon
Namakei. He rose at once, with eye flashing wildly,
and his limbs twitching with emotion. He spoke to
the following effect, swinging his tomahawk to en-
force every eloquent gesticulation, —
"Friends of Namakei, men and women and children
of Aniwa, listen to my words ! Since Missi came
here he has talked many strange things we could not
understand — things all too wonderful ; and we said
regarding many of them that they must be lies.
igo FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
White people might believe such nonsense, but we
said that the black fellow knew better than to
receive it. But of all his wonderful stories, we
thought the strangest was about sinking down
through the earth to get rain ! Then we said to each
other, The man's head is turned ; he's gone mad. But
the Missi prayed on and wrought on, telling us that
Jehovah God heard and saw, and that his God would
give him rain. Was he mad ? Has he not got the
rain deep down in the earth ? We mocked at him ;
but the water was there all the same. We have
laughed at other things which the Missi told us,
because we could not see them. But from this day
I believe that all he tells us about his Jehovah God
is true. Some day our eyes will see it. For to-day
we have seen the rain from the earth."
Then, rising to a climax, first the one foot and then
the other making the broken coral on the floor fly
behind like a war-horse pawing the ground, he cried
with great eloquence, —
" My people, the people of Aniwa, the world is
turned upside down since the word of Jehovah came
to this land ! Who ever expected to see rain coming
up through the earth ? It has always come from the
clouds ! Wonderful is the work of this Jehovah God.
No god of Aniwa ever answered prayers as the
Missi's God has done. Friends of Namakei, all the
powers of the world could not have forced us to
believe that rain could be given from the depths of
the earth, if we had not seen it with our eyes, felt it
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 191
and tasted it as we here do. Now, by the help of
Jehovah God the Missi brought that invisible rain to
view, which we never before heard of or saw, and," —
(beating his hand on his breast, he exclaimed), —
" Something here in my heart tells me that the
Jehovah God does exist, the Invisible One, whom we
never heard of nor saw till the Missi brought Him to
our knowledge. The coral has been removed, the
land has been cleared away, and lo ! the water rises.
Invisible till this day, yet all the same it was there,
though our eyes were too weak. So I, your Chief,
do now firmly believe that when I die, when the bits
of coral and the heaps of dust are removed which
now blind my old eyes, I shall then see the Invisible
Jehovah God with my soul, as Missi tells me, not
less surely than I have seen the rain from the earth
below. From this day, my people, I must worship
the God who has opened for us the well, and who
fills us with rain from below. The gods of Aniwa
cannot hear, cannot help us, like the God of Missi.
Henceforth I am a follower of Jehovah God. Let
every man that thinks with me go now and fetch the
idols of Aniwa, the gods which our fathers feared,
and cast them down at Missi's feet. Let us burn
and bury and destroy these things of wood and stone,
and let us be taught by the Missi how to serve the
God who can hear, the Jehovah who gave us the well,
and who will give us every other blessing, for He sent
His Son Jesus to die for us and bring us to Heaven
This is what the Missi has been telling us every da>
192 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
since he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but
now we believe him. The Jehovah God has sent us
rain from the earth. Why should He not also send
us His Son from Heaven? Namakei stands up foi
Jehovah ! "
This address, and the Sinking of the Well, broke,
as I already said, the back of Heathenism on Aniwa.
That very afternoon, the old Chief and several of his
people brought their idols and cast them down at my
feet beside the door of our house. Oh, the intense
excitement of the weeks that followed ! Company
after company came to the spot, loaded with their
gods of wood and stone, and piled them up in heaps,
amid the tears and sobs of some, and the shoutings
of others, in which was heard the oft-repeated word,
"Jehovah! Jehovah!" What could be burned, we
cast into the flames ; others we buried in pits twelve
or fifteen feet deep ; and some few, more likely than
the rest to feed or awaken superstition, we sank far
out into the deep sea. Let no Heathen eyes ever
gaze on them again !
We do not mean to indicate that, in all cases, their
motives were either high or enlightened. There were
not wanting some who wished to make this new
movement pay, and were much disgusted when we
refused to "buy" their gods! On being told that
Jehovah would not be pleased unless they gave them
up of their own free will, and destroyed them with-
out pay or reward, some took them home again and
held on by them for a season, and others threw them
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 193
away in contempt. Meetings were held ; speeches
were delivered, for these New Hebrideans are irre-
pressible orators, florid, and amazingly graphic ; much
talk followed, and the destruction of idols went on
apace. By-and-bye two Sacred Men and some other
selected persons were appointed a sort of detective
Committee, to search out and expose those who pre-
tended to give them all up, but were hiding certain
idols in secret, and to encourage waverers to come to
a thorough decision for Jehovah. In these intensely
exciting days, we " stood still " and saw the salvation
of the Lord.
They flocked around us now at every meeting we
held. They listened eagerly to the story of the life
and death of Jesus. They voluntarily assumed one
or other article of clothing. And everything trans-
piring was fully and faithfully submitted to us for
counsel or for information. One of the very first
things of a Christian discipline to which they readily
and almost unanimously took was the asking of
God's blessing on every meal and praising the great
Jehovah for their daily bread. Whosoever did not
do so was regarded as a Heathen. (Query: how
many white Heathens are there?) The next step,
and it was taken in a manner as if by some common
consent that was not less surprising than joyful, was
a form of Family Worship every morning and even-
ing. Doubtless the prayers were often very queer,
and mixed up with many remaining superstitions ;
but they were prayers to the great Jehovah, the
P- 13
t94 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
compassionate Father, the Invisible One — no longer
to gods of stone !
Necessarily these were the conspicuous features of
our life as Christians in their midst — morning and
evening Family Prayer, and Grace at Meat; and
hence, most naturally, their instinctive adoption and
imitation of the same as the first outward tokens of
Christian discipline. Every house in which there
was not Prayer to God in the family was known
thereby to be Heathen. This was a direct and
practical evidence of the New Religion ; and, so far
as it goes (and that is very far indeed, where there is
any sincerity at all), the test was one about which
there could be no mistake on either side.
A third conspicuous feature stood out distinctly
and at once, — the change as to the Lord's Day.
Village after village followed in this also the example
of the Mission House. All ordinary occupations
ceased. Sabbath was spoken of as the Day for
Jehovah. Saturday came to be called "Cooking
Day," referring to the extra preparations for the day
of rest and worship. They believed that it was
Jehovah's will to keep the first day holy. The re-
verse was a distinctive mark of Heathenism.
The first traces of a new Social Order began to
rise visibly on the delighted eye. The whole inhabit-
ants, young and old, now attended School,— three
generations sometimes at the one copy or A B C
book ! Thefts, quarrels, crimes, etc., were settled
now, not by club law, but by fine or bonds or lash, as
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 195
agreed upon by the Chiefs and their people. Every-
thing was rapidly and surely becoming "new" under
the influence of the leaven of Jesus. Industry in-
creased. Huts and plantations were safe. Formerly
every man, in travelling, carried with him all his
valuables ; now they were secure, left at home.
Even a brood of fowls or a litter of pigs would be
carried in bags on their persons in Heathen days.
Hence at Church we had sometimes lively episodes,
the chirruping of chicks, the squealing of piggies, and
the barking of puppies, one gaily responding to the
other, as we sang, or prayed, or preached the Gospel !
Being glad to see the Natives there, even with all their
belongings, we carefully refrained from finding fault ;
but the thread of devotion was sometimes apt to slip
through one's fingers, especially when the conflict of
the owner to silence a baby-pig inspired the little
wretch to drown everything in a long-sustained and
angry swinish scream.
The Natives, finding this state of matters trouble-
some to themselves and disagreeable all round, called
a General Assembly, unanimously condemned dis-
honesty, agreed upon severe fines and punishments
for every act of theft, and covenanted to stand by
each other in putting it down. The Chiefs, however,
found this a long and difficult task, but they held at
it under the inspiration of the Gospel and prevailed.
Even the trials and difficulties with which they met
were overruled by God, in assisting them to form
by the light of their own experience a simple code
196 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM.
of Social Laws, fitted to repress the crimes there
prevailing, and to encourage the virtues specially
needing to be cultivated there. Heathen Worship
was gradually extinguished ; and, though no one was
compelled to come to Church, every person on Aniwa,
without exception, became an avowed worshipper of
Jehovah God. Again, " O Galilean, Thou hast con-
quered ! "
Often since have I meditated on that old Cannibal
Chief reasoning himself and his people, from the
sinking of the well and the bringing of the invisible
water to view, into a belief as to the existence and
power of the great Invisible God, the only Hearer and
Answerer of prayer. And the contrasted picture rises
before my mind of the multitudes in Britain, America,
Germany, and our Colonies, all whose wisdom, science,
art, and wealth have only left them in spiritual dark-
ness— miserable doubters ! In their pride of heart,
they deny their Creator and Redeemer, so gloriously
revealed to them alike in Nature and in Scripture,
and are like a dog barking against the sun. They
will accept nothing but what their poorly-developed
Science can demonstrate ; yet that Science, as com-
pared with the All-Truth of the Universe, is infinitely
smaller than was the poor Chief Namakei's know-
ledge as compared with mine ! They do certainly
know that their very existence, at every moment,
depends on things that neither reason nor science can
fathom, any more than Namakei could understand
the rain from below. For every reason that he and
FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 197
his people had to believe in the Invisible God, who
brought the water to their view, these sons and
daughters of civilization, " the heirs of all the ages in
the foremost files of time," have ten thousand more
< — from history, from science, from material progress
— yet in their pride of Intellect they refuse to ac-
knowledge and adore that Invisible and Inscrutable
God, in whom every day they live, and move, and
have their being, and who has spoken to us by His
Son from Heaven. If their own sons, daughters, or
servants, who are infinitely less dependent on them
than they are upon God, should treat themselves as
they are treating their Creator, what would they
think ? How would they feel ? I pity from the depth
of my heart every human being, who, from whatever
cause, is a stranger to the most ennobling, uplifting,
and consoling experience that can come to the soul
of man — blessed communion with the Father of our
Spirits, through gracious union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. " I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven
and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes. Even so, Father : for so it seemed good in
Thy sight. . . . Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek
and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is
light " (Matt xi. 25-30).
CHAPTER VII.
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
My first Aniwan Book. — The Power of Music. — A Pair of Glass
Eyes. — Church Building for Jesus. — The Hanging of the
Bell. — Patesa and his Bride. — An Armed Embassage. —
Youwili's Taboo. — Youwili's Conversion. — The Tobacco
Idol. — First Communion on Anivva. — Our Village Day
Schools. — New Social Laws. — A Sabbath Day's Work on
Aniwa. — Our Week-day Life. — The Orphans and their
Biscuits. — " The Wreck of the Daysfiring." — God's Own
Finger- Posts. — God's Work our Guarantee. — Profane
Swearers Rebuked. — A Heavenly Vision. — On Wing
through New Zealand. — Our Second Day spring.
THE printing of my first Aniwan book was a
great event, not so much for the toil and worry
which it cost me, though that was enough to have
broken the heart of many a compositor, as rather for
the joy it gave to the old Chief Namakei.
The break-up at Tanna had robbed me of my own
neat little printing press. I had since obtained at
Aneityum the remains of one from Erromanga, that
had belonged to the murdered Gordon. But the sup-
ply of letters, in some cases, was so deficient that I
could print only four pages at a time; and, besides, bits
of the press were wanting, and I had first to manufac-
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 199
ture substitutes from scraps of iron and wood. I
managed, however, to make it go, and by-and-bye it
did good service. By it I printed our Aniwan Hymn-
Book, a portion of Genesis in Aniwan, a small book
in Erromangan for the second Gordon, and other little
things.
The old Chief had eagerly helped me in translating
and preparing this first book, He had a great desire
" to hear it speak," as he graphically expressed it. It
was made up chiefly of short passages from the Scrip-
tures, that might help me to introduce them to the
treasures of Divine truth and love. Namakei came
to me, morning after morning, saying, —
" Missi, is it done ? Can it speak ? "
At last I was able to answer, " Yes 1 "
The old Chief eagerly responded, " Does it speak
my words ? "
I said, " It does."
With rising interest, Namakei exclaimed, —
"Make it speak to me, Missi! Let me hear it
speak."
I read to him a part of the book, and the old man
fairly shouted in an ecstasy of joy : "It does speak !
It speaks my own language, too ! Oh, give it to me ! "
He grasped it hurriedly, turned it all round every
way, pressed it to his bosom, and then, closing it with
a look of great disappointment, handed it back to
me, saying, " Missi, I cannot make it speak ! It will
never speak to me."
" No," said I ; " you don't know how to read it yet,
200 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
how to make it speak to you ; but I will teach you to
read, and then it will speak to you as it does to me."
" O Missi, dear Missi, show me how to make it
speak ! " persisted the bewildered Chief. He was
straining his eyes so, that I suspected they were dim
with age, and could not see the letters. I looked out
for him a pair of spectacles, and managed to fit him
well. He was much afraid of putting them on at first,
manifestly in dread of some sort of sorcery. At last
when they were properly placed, he saw the letters
and everything so clearly that he exclaimed in great
excitement and joy, —
" I see it all now ! This is what you told us about
Jesus. He opened the eyes of a blind man. The
word of Jesus has just come to Aniwa. He has sent
me these glass eyes. I have gotten back again the
sight that I had when a boy. O Missi, make the
book speak to me now ! "
I walked out with him to the public Village
Ground. There I drew A B C in large characters
upon the dust, showed him the same letters in the
book, and left him to compare them, and find out how
many occurred on the first page. Fixing these in
his mind, he came running to me, and said, —
" I have lifted up A B C. They are here in my
head, and I will hold them fast. Give me other
three."
This was repeated time after time. He mastered
the whole Alphabet, and soon began to spell out the
smaller words. Indeed, he came so often, getting
THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. 201
me to read it over and over, that before he himself
could read it freely he had it word for word committed
to memory. When strangers passed him, or young
people came around, he would get out the little book,
and say, —
" Come, and I will let you hear how the book
speaks our own Aniwan words. You say, it is hard
to learn to read and make it speak. But be strong
to try ! If an old man like me has done it, it ought
to be much easier for you."
One day I heard him read to a company with won-
derful fluency. Taking the book, I asked him to
show me how he had done it so quickly. Immediately
I perceived that he could recite the whole from
memory. He became our right-hand helper in the
Conversion of Aniwa.
Next after God's own Word, perhaps the power of
Music was most amazingly blessed in opening up
our way. Amongst many other illustrations, I may
mention how Namakei's wife was won. The old lady
positively shuddered at coming near the Mission
House, and dreaded being taught anything. One
day she was induced to draw near the door, and fixing
a hand on either post, and gazing inwards, she ex-
claimed, " Awai, Missi ! Kai, Missi ! " — the Native cry
for unspeakable wonder. Mrs. Paton began to play
on the harmonium, and sang a simple hymn in the
old woman's language. Manifestly charmed, she drew
nearer and nearer, and drank in the music, ac ft were,
at every pore ol her being. At last she ran off, aiiv.
202 THE LIGHT THAT SHJNETH MORE AND MOKE.
we thought it was with fright, but it was to call to-
gether all the women and girls from her village "to
hear the bokis sing ! " (Having no x, the word box
is pronounced thus.) She returned with them all at
her heels. They listened with dancing eyes. And
ever after the sound of a hymn, and the song of the
bokis, made them flock freely to class or meeting.
Being myself as nearly as possible destitute of the
power of singing, all my work would have been im-
paired and sadly hindered, and the joyous side of the
Worship and Service of Jehovah could not have been
presented to the Natives, but for the gift bestowed
by the Lord on my dear wife. She led our songs of
praise, both in the family and in the Church, and that
was the first avenue by which the New Religion
winged its way into the heart of Cannibal and
Savage.
The old Chief was particularly eager that this same
aged lady, his wife Yauwaki, should be taught to read.
But her sight was far gone. So, one day, he brought
her to me, saying, " Missi, can you give my wife also
a pair of new glass eyes like mine ? She tries to
learn, but she cannot see the letters. She tries to sew,
but she pricks her finger, and throws away the needle,
saying, ' The ways of the white people are not good ! '
If she could get a pair of glass eyes, she would be in
a new world like Namakei." In my bundle I found
a pair that suited her. She was in positive terror
about putting them on her face, but at last she cried
with delight, —
OH, MY NEW EYES!'
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 203
" Oh, my new eyes ! my new eyes ! I have the
sight of a little girl. I will learn hard now. I will
make up for lost time."
Her progress was never very great, but her in-
fluence for good on other women and girls was im-
mense.
In all my work amongst the Natives, I have striven
to train them to be self-supporting, and have never
helped them where I could train them to help them-
selves. In this respect I was exceedingly careful,
when the question arose of building their Churches,
and Schools. At first we moved about amongst them
from village to village, acquired their language, and
taught them everywhere, — by the roadside, under the
shade of a tree, or on the public Village Ground.
Our old Native Hut, when we removed to the Mission
House formerly referred to, was used for all sorts of
public meetings. Feeling by-and-bye that the time
had come to interest them in building a new Church,
and that it would be every way helpful, I laid the
proposal before them, carefully explaining that for
this work no one would be paid, that the Church was
for all the Islanders and for the Worship alone, and
that every one must build purely for the love of
Jesus.
I told them that God would be pleased with such
materials as they had to give, that they must not
begin till they had divided the work and counted the
cost, and that for my part I would do all that I could
to direct and help, and would supply the sinnet
204 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
( = cocoa-nut fibre rope) which I had brought from
Aneityum, and the nails brought from Sydney.
They held meeting after meeting throughout the
Island. Chiefs made long speeches ; orators chanted
their palavers ; and warriors acted their part by
waving of club and tomahawk. An unprecedented
friendliness sprang up amongst them. They agreed
to sink every quarrel, and unite in building the first
Church on Aniwa, — one Chief only holding back.
Women and children began to gather and prepare
the sugar-cane leaf for thatch. Men searched for
and cut down suitable trees.
The Church measured sixty-two feet by twenty-
four. The wall was twelve feet high. The studs
were of hard iron-wood, and were each by tenon and
mortise fastened into six iron-wood trees forming the
upper wall plates. All were not only nailed, but
strongly tied together by sinnet-rope, so as to resist
the hurricanes. The roof was supported by four
huge iron-wood trees, and another of equally hard
wood, sunk about eight feet into the ground, sur-
rounded by building at the base, and forming massive
pillars. There were two doorways and eight window
spaces ; the floor was laid with white coral, broken
small, and covered with cocoa-nut tree leaf-mats, on
which the people sat. I had a small platform, floored
and surrounded with reeds ; and Mrs. Paton had a
seat enclosing the harmonium, also made of reeds,
and in keeping. Great harmony prevailed all the
time, and no mishap marred the work. One hearty
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 205
,'ellow fell from the roof-tree to the ground, and was
badly stunned. But, jumping up, he shook himself,
and saying, — " I was working for Jehovah ! He has
saved me from being hurt," — he mounted the roof
again and went on cheerily with his work.
Our pride in the New Church soon met with a
dreadful blow. That very season a terrific hurricane
evelled it with the ground. After much wailing, the
principal Chief, in a great Assembly, said, —
" Let us not weep, like boys over their broken
bows and arrows ! Let us be strong, and build a yet
stronger Church for Jehovah."
By our counsel, ten days were spent first in repair-
ing houses and fences, and saving food from the
plantations, many of which had been swept into utter
ruin. Then they assembled on the appointed day.
A hymn was sung. God's blessing was invoked, and
all the work was dedicated afresh to Him. Days
were spent in taking the iron-wood roof to pieces,
and saving everything that could be saved. The
work was allocated equally amongst the villages, and
a wholesome emulation was created. One Chief still
held back. After a while, I visited him and per-
sonally invited his help, — telling him that it was
God's House, and for all the people of Aniwa ; and
that if he and his people did not do their part, the
others would cast it in their teeth that they had no
share in the House of God. He yielded to my appeal,
and entered vigorously upon the work.
One large tree was still needed to complete the
206 THE LI G FIT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
couples, and could nowhere be found. The work
was at a standstill ; for, though the size was now
reduced to fifty feet by twenty-two, and the roof had
been lowered by four feet in order to give the wind-
lass sufficient purchase, there was plenty of smaller
wood on Aniwa, but the larger trees were apparently
exhausted. One morning, however, we were awoke
at early daybreak by the shouting and singing of a
company of men, carrying a great black tree to the
Church, with this same Chief dancing before them,
leading the singing, and beating time with the flourish
of his tomahawk. Determined not to be beaten,
though late in the field, he had lifted the roof-tree
out of his own house, as black as soot could make it,
and was carrying it to complete the couplings. The
rest of the builders shouted against this. All the
other wood of the Church was white and clean, and
they would not have this black tree, conspicuous in
the very centre of all. But I praised the old Chief
for what he had done, and hoped he and his people
would come and worship Jehovah under his own
roof-tree. At this all were delighted ; and the work
went on apace, with many songs and shoutings.
Whenever the Church was roofed in, we met in it
for Public Worship. Coral was being got and burned,
and preparations made for plastering the walls. The
Natives were sharp enough to notice that I was not
putting up the bell ; and suspicions arose that I kept
it back in order to take it with me when I returned
to Tanna. It was a beautiful Church bell, cast and
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 207
sent out by our dear friend, James Taylor, Esq.,
Engineer, Birkenhead. The Aniwans, therefore, gave
me no rest till I agreed to have it hung on their
new Church. They found a large iron-wood tree
near the shore, cut a road for half a mile through the
bush, tied poles across it every few feet, and with
shouts lifted it bodily on their shoulders — six men or
so at each pole — and never set it down again till they
reached the Church ; for as one party got exhausted,
others were ready to rush in and relieve them at
every stage of the journey. The two old Chiefs,
flourishing their tomahawks, went capering in front of
all the rest, and led the song to which they marched,
joyfully bearing their load. They dug a deep hole
into which to sink it ; I squared the top and screwed
on the bell ; then we raised the tree by ropes, letting
it sink into the hole, built it round eight feet deep
with coral blocks and lime, and there from its top
swings and rings ever since the Church bell of Aniwa.
A fortnight's cessation of labour at the Church now
followed. Their own plantations were attended to,
and other needful duties performed. Our resump-
tion of operations at the Church gave the opportunity
for a deed of horrid cruelty. The Chiefs son,
Patesa, had just been married to a youthful widow,
whom Nasi, a Tanna man living on Aniwa, had also
desired. The people of the young bridegroom's
village agreed to sleep overnight near the Mission
Premises, in order to be ready for the work early
next morning ; and they deputed the young couple
ioS THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
to return to the village and sleep there, watching
over their property. Nasi and his half-brother
Nouka, knowing they were alone, crept stealthily
towards their hut at earliest daybreak, and removed
the door without awaking either of the sleepers.
Next moment a ball struck the young husband
dead. The wife sprang up and implored Nasi to
spare her ; but he sent a ball through her heart, and
she fell dead upon her dead spouse. Their people,
hearing the double shot, rushed to the scene, and
found the hut flowing with blood. Early that same
forenoon the bride and bridegroom were laid in the
same grave, in the sleep of love and death.
For a week all our work was suspended. Men and
boys went about fully armed, and all their talk was
for revenge. Nasi had a number of desperate fellows
at his back, all armed with muskets, and I feared the
loss of many lives. I implored them for once to leave
the vengeance in the hands of God, and to stand by
each other in carrying forward the work of Jehovah.
But I solemnly forbade the murderers to come near
the Mission House, or to help us with the Church.
My counsel was so far accepted. But every man
came to the work armed with musket, tomahawk,
spear, and club, and the boys with bows and arrows ;
and these were piled up round the fence at hand,
with watchmen stationed for alarm. Thus, literally
with sword in one hand and trowel in the other, the
House of the Lord was reared again on Aniwa.
Coral was secured, as described in a preceding
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 209
chapter ; lime was prepared therefrom by burning
it in extemporized kilns ; and each village vied with
all the rest in plastering beautifully its own allocated
portion — the first job of the kind they had ever done.
The floor was covered with broken coral and mats,
but the Natives are now (1889) furnishing it with
white men's seats. Originally they had a row of
seats all round it inside, made of bamboo cane and
reeds. The women and girls enter by one door,
and the men and boys by another ; and they sit on
separate sides, — except at the Lord's table, when all
sit together as one family. It was a Church perfectly
suitable for their circumstances, and it cost the Home
Committees not a single penny. It has withstood
many a hurricane. A large number of the original
builders are gone to their rest ; but their work
abides, and witnesses for God amongst their children.
On its rude walls I could see the glorious motto—
"Jehovah Shammah."
One of the last attempts ever made on my life
resulted, by God's blessing, in great good to us all
and to the work of the Lord. It was when Nourai,
one of Nasi's men, struck at me again and again with
the barrel of his musket ; but I evaded the blows,
till rescued by the women — the men looking on
stupefied. After he escaped into the bush, I as-
sembled our people, and said, —
"If you do not now try to stop this bad conduct,
I shall leave Aniwa, and go to some island where my
life will be protected."
P. 14
210 THE LIGHT THA T SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
Next morning at daybreak, about one hundred
men arrived at my house, and in answer to my query
why they came armed they replied, — "We are now
going to that village, where the men of wicked con-
duct are gathered together. We will find out why
they sought your life, and we will rebuke their Sacred
Man for pretending to cause hurricanes and diseases.
We cannot go unarmed. We will not suffer you to
go alone. We are your friends and the friends of the
Worship. And we are resolved to stand by you, and
you must go at our head to-day ! "
In great perplexity, yet believing that my presence
might prevent bloodshed, I allowed myself to be
placed at their head. The old Chief followed next,
then a number of fiery young men ; then all the rest,
single file, along the narrow path. At a sudden turn,
as we neared their village, Nourai, who had attacked
me the Sabbath day before, and his brother were seen
lurking with their muskets ; but our young men made
a rush in front, and they disappeared into the bush.
We took possession of the Village Public Ground ;
and the Chief, the Sacred Man, and others soon
assembled. A most characteristic Native Palaver
followed. Speeches, endless speeches, were fired by
them at each other. My friends declared, in every
conceivable form of language and of graphic illustra-
tion, that they were resolved at any cost to defend
me and the worship of Jehovah, and that they would
as one man punish every attempt to injure me or take
my life. The orator, Taia, exclaimed, —
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 211
" You think that Missi is here alone, and that you
can do with him as you please ! No I We are now
all Missi's men. We will fight for him and his rather
than see him injured. Every one that attacks him
attacks us. That is finished to-day ! "
In the general scolding, the Sacred Man had special
attention, for pretending to cause hurricanes. One
pointed out that he had himself a stiff knee, and
argued, —
" If he can make a hurricane, why can't he restore
the joint of his own knee? It is surely easier to do
the one than the other ! "
The Natives laughed heartily, and taunted him.
Meantime he sat looking down to the earth in sullen
silence ; and a ludicrous episode ensued. His wife,
a big, strong woman, scolded him roundly for the
trouble he had brought them all into ; and then,
getting indignant as well as angry, she seized a huge
cocoa-nut leaf out of the bush, and with the butt end
thereof began thrashing his shoulders vigorously, as
she poured out the vials of her wrath in torrents of
words, always winding up with the cry, —
" I'll knock the Tevil out of him 1 He'll not try
hurricanes again ! "
The woman was a Malay, as many of the Aniwans
were. Had a Papuan woman on Tanna or Erromanga
dared such a thing, she would have been killed on the
spot. But even on Aniwa, the unwonted spectacle of
a wife beating her husband created uproarious amuse-
ment At length I remonstrated, saying, —
212 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE.
" You had better stop now ! You don't want to
kill him, do you ? You seem to have knocked 'the
Tevil' pretty well out of him now! You see how
he receives it all in silence, and repents of all his
bad talk and bad conduct."
They exacted from him a solemn promise as to
the making of no more diseases or hurricanes, and
that he would live at peace with his neighbours.
The offending villagers at length presented a large
quantity of sugar-cane and food to us as a peace-
offering ; and we returned, praising God that the
whole day's scolding had ended in talk, not blood.
The result was every way most helpful. Our friends
knew their strength and took courage. Our enemies
were disheartened and afraid. We saw the balance
growing heavier every day on the side of Jesus ; and
our souls blessed the Lord.
These events suggest to me another incident of those
days full at once of trial and of joy. It pertains tc
the story of our young Chief, Youwili. From the
first, and for long, he was most audacious and trouble-
some. Observing that for several days no Natives
had come near the Mission House, I asked the old
Chief if he knew why, and he answered, —
"Youwili has tabooed the paths, and threatens
death to any one who breaks through it."
I at once replied : " Then I conclude that you all
agree with him, and wish me to leave. We are here
only to teach you and your people. If he has power
to prevent that, we shall leave with the Dayspring."
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 213
The old Chief called the people together, and they
came to me, saying, — " Our anger is strong against
Youwili. Go with us and break down the taboo.
We will assist and protect you."
I went at their head and removed it. It consisted
simply of reeds stuck into the ground, with twigs and
leaves and fibre tied to each in a peculiar way, in a
circle round the Mission House. The Natives had
an extraordinary dread of violating the taboo, and
believed that it meant death to the offender or
to some one of his family. All present entered
into a bond to punish on the spot any man who
attempted to replace the taboo, or to revenge its
removal. Thus a mortal blow was publicly struck
at this most miserable superstition, which had caused
bloodshed and m isery untold.
One day, thereafter, I was engaged in clearing
away the bush around the Mission House, having
purchased and paid for the land for the very purpose
of opening it up, when suddenly Youwili appeared
and menacingly forbade me to proceed. For the
sake of peace I for the time desisted. But he went
straight to my fence, and with his tomahawk cut
down the portion in front of our house, also some
bananas planted there, — their usual declaration of
war, intimating that he only awaited his opportunity
similarly to cut down me and mine. We saw the
old Chief and his men planting themselves here and
there to guard us, and the Natives prowling about
armed and excited. On calling them, they explained
214 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
the meaning of what Youwili had done, and that
they were determined to protect us. I said, —
" This must not continue. Are you to permit one
young fool to defy us all, and break up the Lord's
work on Aniwa ? If you cannot righteously punish
him, I will shut myself up in my House and with-
draw from all attempts to teach or help you, till the
Vessel comes, and then I can leave the Island."
Now that they had begun really to love us, and to
be anxious to learn more, this was always my most
powerful argument. We retired into the Mission
House. The people surrounded our doors and win-
dows and pleaded with us. After long silence, we
replied, —
" You know our resolution. It is for you now to
decide. Either you must control that foolish young
man, or we must go ! "
Much speech- making, as usual, followed. The
people resolved to seize and punish Youwili ; but he
fled, and had hid himself in the bush. Coming to
me, the Chief said, —
" It is left to you to say what shall be Youwili's
punishment. Shall we kill him ? "
I replied firmly, " Certainly not 1 Only for murder
can life be lawfully taken away."
" What then ? " they continued. " Shall we burn his
houses and destroy his plantations ? "
I answered, " No."
u Shall we bind him and beat him ?"
" No."
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. f\%
" Shall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to
sea, and let him drown or escape as he may ? "
M No ! by no means."
" Then, Missi," said they, " these are our ways of
punishing. What other punishment remains that
Youwili cares for ? "
I replied, " Make him with his own hands, and
alone, put up a new fence, and restore all that he has
destroyed ; and make him promise publicly that he
will cease all evil conduct towards us. That will
satisfy me."
This idea of punishment seemed to tickle them
greatly. The Chiefs reported our words to the
Assembly ; and the Natives laughed and cheered, as
if it were a capital joke ! They cried aloud, —
" It is good ! It is good ! Obey the word of the
Missi."
After considerable hunting, the young Chief was
found. They brought him to the Assembly and
scolded him severely and told him their sentence.
He was surprised by the nature of the punishment,
and cowed by the determination of the people.
" To-morrow," said he, " I will fully repair the
fence. Never again will I oppose the Missi. His
word is good."
By daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently
repairing what he had broken down, and before
evening he had everything made right, better than it
was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of
his own rank twitted him, saying, —
*i6 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE ANL- MORE.
" Youwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi's
fence than to repair it again. You will not repeat
that in a hurry ! "
But he heard all in silence. Others passed with
averted heads, and he knew they were laughing at
bim. He made everything tight, and then left with-
out uttering a single word. My heart yearned after
the poor fellow, but I thought it better to let his own
mind work away, on its new ideas as to punishment
and revenge, for a little longer by itself alone. I
instinctively felt that Youwili was beginning to turn,
that the Christ-Spirit had touched his darkly-
groping soul. My doors were now thrown open,
and every good work went on as before. We resolved
to leave Youwili entirely to Jesus, setting apart a
portion of our prayer every day for the enlighten-
ment and conversion of the young Chief, on whom
all our means had been exhausted apparently in
vain.
A considerable time elapsed. No sign came, and
our prayers seemed to fail. But one day, I was
toiling between the shafts of a hand-cart, assisted by
two boys, drawing it along from the shore loaded
with coral blocks. Youwili came rushing from his
house, three hundred yards or so off the path, and
said, —
u Missi, that is too hard work for you. Let me be
your helper ! "
Without waiting for a reply, he ordered the twc
boys to seize one rope, while he grasped the other
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 217
threw it over his shoulder and started off, pulling
with the strength of a horse. My heart rose in
gratitude, and I wept with joy as I followed him. I
knew that that rope was but a symbol of the yoke
of Christ, which Youwili with his change of heart was
beginning to carry ! Truly there is only one way of
being born again, regeneration by the power of the
Spirit of God, the new heart ; but there are many
ways of conversion, of outwardly turning to the
Lord, of taking the actual first step that shows on
whose side we are. Regeneration is the sole work of
the Holy Spirit in the human heart and soul, and is
in every case one and the same. Conversion, on the
other hand, bringing into play the action also of the
human will, is never absolutely the same perhaps in
even two souls, — as like and yet as different as are
the faces of men.
Like those of old praying for the deliverance of
Peter, and who could not believe their ears and eyes
when Peter knocked and walked in amongst them,
so we could scarcely believe our eyes and ears when
Youwili became a disciple of Jesus, though we had
been praying for his conversion every day. His once
sullen countenance became literally bright with inner
light. His wife came immediately for a book and a
dress, saying, —
" Youwili sent me. His opposition to the Worship
is over now. I am to attend Church and School.
He is coming too. He wants to learn how to be
strong, like you, for Jehovah and for Jesus."
218 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
Oh, Jesus ! to Thee alone be all the glory. Thou
hast the key to unlock every heart that Thou hast
created.
Youwili proved to be slow at learning to read, but
he had perseverance, and his wife greatly helped him.
The two attended the Communicants' Class together,
and ultimately both sat down at the Lord's Table.
After his first Communion, he waited for me under
an orange-tree near the Mission House, and said, —
" Missi, I've given up everything for Jesus, except
one. I want to know if it is bad, if it will make Jesus
angry ; for if so, I am willing to give it up. I want
to live so as to please Jesus now."
We feared that it was some of their Heathenish
immoralities, and were in a measure greatly relieved
when he proceeded, —
" Missi, I have not yet given up my pipe and to-
bacco ! O Missi, I have used it so long, and I do like
it so well ; but if you say that it makes Jesus angry
with me, I will smash my pipe now, and never smoke
again ! "
The man's soul was aflame. He was in tremendous
earnest, and would have done anything for me. But
I was more anxious to instruct his conscience than to
dominate it. I therefore replied in effect thus, —
" I rejoice, Youwili, that you are ready to give up
anything to please Jesus. He well deserves it, for
He gave up His life for you. For my part, you know
that I do not smoke ; and from my point of view I
would think it wrong in me to waste time and money
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 219
and perhaps health in blowing tobacco smoke into
the air. It would do me no good. It could not
possibly help me to serve or please Jesus better. I
think I am happier and healthier without it. And 1
am certain that I can use the time and money, spent
on this selfish and rather filthy habit, far more for
God's glory in many other ways. But I must be true
to you, Youwili, and admit that many of God's dear
people differ from me in these opinions. They spend
time and money, and sometimes injure health, in
smoking, besides setting a wasteful example to lads
and young men, and do not regard it as sinful. I
will not therefore condemn these, our fellow Chris-
tians, by calling smoking a sin like drunkenness ;
but I will say to you that I regard it as a foolish and
wasteful indulgence, a bad habit, and that though
you may serve and please Jesus with it, you might
serve and please Jesus very much better without it."
He looked very anxious, as if weighing his habit
against his resolution, and then said, —
" Missi, I give up everything else. If it won't make
Jesus angry, I will keep the pipe. I have used it so
long, and oh, I do like it ! "
Renewing our advice and counsel, but leaving him
free to do in that matter so as to please Jesus accord-
ing to his own best light, Youwili departed with a
conscience so far greatly relieved, and we had many
meditations upon the incident. Most of our Natives,
on their conversion, have voluntarily renounced the
Tobacco Idol ; but what more could I say to Youwili,
220 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
with thousands of white Christians at my back burn-
ing incense to that same idol every day of their lives ?
Marvellous to me, in this connection, has often been
the working of a tender conscience, asking itself
how to serve and please Jesus, or how to do more
for Jesus. Some years ago, for instance, I met a
State School Teacher in Victoria, who had been
lately brought under the power of the Gospel. In
his fresh love, he wanted to do something to show
his gratitude to Jesus. He had a young family, and
the way was barred to the Mission field. His dear
wife and he calculated over all their expenditure, to
find out how much they could save to support the
work of Jesus at home and abroad. Little or nothing
could be spared from what appeared necessary claims.
He fell upon his knees, and in tears implored God to
show him how he could do something more to save
the perishing. A voice came to him like a flash, —
" If you so care for Me and My work, you can
easily sacrifice your pipe."
He instantly took up his pipe, and laid it before
the Lord, saying, —
"There it is, O my Lord, and whatsoever it
may have cost me, shall now from year to year be
Thine!"
He was not what is called a heavy smoker, — any-
thing under one shilling per week being considered
" moderate," as I am informed. But he found that
he had been spending thirty-one shillings per annum
on tobacco ; and every year since he has laid that
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 221
money upon the altar to Jesus, and prayed Him to
use it in sending His Gospel to Heathen lands. I
wonder which soul is the richer at the end of a
year — he who lays his money, saved from a selfish
indulgence, at the feet of Jesus, or he who blows it
away in filthy smoke ?
And this leads me to relate the story of our First
Communion on Aniwa. It was Sabbath, 24th
October, 1869; and surely the Angels of God and
the Church of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst
the great cloud of witnesses who eagerly " peered "
down upon the scene, — when we sat around the Lord's
Table and partook of His body and blood with those
few souls rescued out of the Heathen World. My
Communicants' Class had occupied me now a con-
siderable time. The conditions of attendance at this
early stage were explicit, and had to be made very
severe, and only twenty were admitted to the roll.
At the final examination only twelve gave evidence of
understanding what they were doing, and of having
given their hearts to the service of the Lord Jesus.
At their own urgent desire, and after every care in
examining and instructing, they were solemnly dedi-
cated in prayer to be baptized and admitted to the
Holy Table. On that Lord's Day, after the usual
opening Service, I gave a short and careful exposition
of the Ten Commandments and of the Way of Salva-
tion according to the Gospel. The twelve Candidates
then stood up before all the inhabitants there assem-
bled; and, after a brief exhortation to them as
222 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
Converts, I put to them the two questions that follow,
and each gave an affirmative reply, —
" Do you, in accordance with your profession of
the Christian Faith, and your promises before God
and the people, wish me now to baptize you ?
And, — "Will you live henceforth for Jesus only,
hating all sin and trying to love and serve your
Saviour ? "
Then, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve
came forward, and I baptized them one by one ac-
cording to the Presbyterian usage. Two of them had
also little children, and they were at the same time
baptized, and received as the lambs of the flock.
Solemn prayer was then offered, and in the name of
the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ on Aniwa was
formally constituted. I addressed them on the words
of the Holy Institution — I Corinthians xi. 23 — and
then, after the prayer of Thanksgiving and Consecra-
tion, administered the Lord's Supper, — the first
time since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its
coral depths ! Mrs. McNair, my wife, and myself
along with six Aneityumese Teachers, communicated
with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if ever
in all my earthly experience, on that day I might
truly add the blessed words — Jesus " in the midst."
The whole Service occupied nearly three hours.
The Islanders looked on with a wonder whose un-
wonted silence was almost painful to bear. Many
were led to inquire carefully about everything they
saw, so new and strange. For the first time the
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 223
Dorcas Street Sabbath School Teachers' gift from
South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to
use — a new Communion Service of silver. They
gave it in faith that we would require it, and in such
we received it. And now the day had come and
gone ! For three years we had toiled and prayed
and taught for this. At the moment when I put the
bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained
with the blood of Cannibalism, now stretched out to
receive and partake the emblems and seals of the
Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of Glory
that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall
never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified
face of Jesus Himself.
On the afternoon of that Communion Day, an
open-air Prayer Meeting was held under the shade
of the great banyan tree in front of our Church.
Seven of the new Church members there led the
people in prayer to Jesus, a hymn being sung betwixt
each. My heart was so full of joy that I could do
little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I wonder, when
I see so many good Ministers at home, crowding each
other and treading on each other's heels, whether they
would not part with all their home privileges, and go
out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like this —
" the joy of the Lord."
Having now our little Aniwan book, we set about
establishing Schools at every village on the Island.
Mrs. Paton and I had been diligently instructing
those around us, and had now a number prepared to
224 THE LIGHT THAT SHLVETH MORE AND MORE.
act as helpers. Experience has proved that, for the
early stages their own fellow- Islanders are the most
successful instructors. Each village built its own
i chool, which on Sabbath served as a district Church.
For the two most advanced Schools I had our good
neityamese Teachers, and for the others I took the
best readers that could be found. These I changed
frequently, returning them to our own School for a
season, which was held for them in the afternoon ;
and, to encourage them, a small salary was granted
to each of them yearly, drawn from what is known
throughout the Churches as the Native Teachers'
Fund.
These village Schools have all to be conducted at
daybreak, while the heavy dews still drench the bush ;
for, so soon as the dews are lifted by the rising sun,
the Natives are off to their plantations, on which
they depend for their food almost exclusively. I had
a large School at the Mission Station also at day-
break, besides the afternoon School at three o'clock
for the training of Teachers. At first they made
very little progress ; but they began to form habits
of attention ; and they learned the fruitful habit ot
acknowledging God always, for all our Schools were
opened and closed with prayer. As their knowledge
and faith increased, we saw their Heathen practices
rapidly passing away, and a new life shaping itself
around us. Mrs. Paton taught a class of about fifty
women and girls. They became experts at sewing,
singing, plaiting hats, and reading. Nearly all the
THE LIGHT THAT SH1XETH MORE AND MORE. 225
girls could at length cut out and make their own
dresses, as well as shirts or kilts for the men and
clothing for the children. Yet, three short years
before, men and women alike were running about
naked and savage. The Christ-Spirit is the true
civilizing power.
The new Social Order, referred to already in its
dim beginnings, rose around us like a sweet-scented
flower. I never interfered directly, unless expressly
called upon or appealed to. The two principal Chiefs
were impressed with the idea that there was but one
law, — the Will of God, and one rule for them and
their people as Christians, — to please the Lord Jesus.
In every difficulty they consulted me. I explained
to them and read in their hearing the very words of
Holy Scripture, showing what appeared to me to be
the will of God and what would please the Saviour ;
and then sent them away to talk it over with their
people, and to apply these principles of the word
of God as wisely as they could according to their
circumstances. Our own part of the work went on
very joyfully, notwithstanding occasional trying and
painful incidents. Individual cases of greed and
selfishness and vice brought us many a bitter pang.
But the Lord never lost patience with us, and we
durst not therefore lose patience with them ! We
trained the Teachers, we translated and printed and
expounded the Scriptures, we ministered to the sick
and dying ; we dispensed medicines every day, we
taught them the use of tools, we advised them as
P. 15
226 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE.
to laws and penalties ; and the New Society grew
and developed, and bore amidst all its imperfections
some traces of the fair Kingdom of God amongst
men.
Our life and work will reveal itself to the reader
if I briefly outline a Sabbath Day on Aniwa. Break-
fast is partaken of immediately after daylight. The
Church bell then rings, and ere it stops every wor-
shipper is seated. The Natives are guided in starting
by the sunrise, and are forward from farthest corners
at this early hour. The first Service is over in about
an hour ; there is an interval of twenty minutes ; the
bell is again rung, and the second Service begins.
We follow the ordinary Presbyterian ritual ; but in
every Service I call upon an Elder or a Church
Member to lead in one of the prayers, which they do
with great alacrity and with much benefit to all con-
cerned.
As the last worshipper leaves, at close of second
Service, the bell is sounded twice very deliberately,
and that is the signal for the opening of my Com-
municants' Class. I carefully expound the Church's
Shorter Catechism, and show how its teachings are
built upon Holy Scripture, applying each truth to
the conscience and the life. This Class is conducted
all the year round, and from it, step by step, our
Church Members are drawn as the Lord opens up
their way, the most of them attending two full years
at least before being admitted to the Lord's Table.
This discipline accounts for the fact that so very few
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE7H MORE AND MORE. 227
of our baptized converts have ever fallen away — as
few in proportion, I verily believe, as in Churches at
home. Meantime, many of the Church members
have been holding a prayer meeting amongst them-
selves in the adjoining School, — a thing started of
their own free accord, — in which they invoke God's
blessing on all the work and worship of the day.
Having snatched a brief meal of tea, or a cold
dinner cooked on Saturday, the bell rings within an
hour, and our Sabbath School assembles, — in which
the whole inhabitants, young and old, take part,
myself superintending and giving the address, as well
as questioning on the lesson, Mrs. Paton teaching a
large class of adult women, and the Elders and best
readers instructing the ordinary classes for about half
an hour or so.
About one o'clock the School is closed, and we
then start off in our village tours. An experienced
Elder, with several Teachers, takes one side of the
Island this Sabbath, I with another company taking
the other side, and next Sabbath we reverse the
order. A short Service is conducted in the open air,
or in Schoolrooms, at every village that can be
reached ; and on their return they report to me cases
of sickness, or any signs of progress in the work of
the Lord. The whole Island is thus steadily and
methodically evangelized.
As the sun is setting I am creeping home from my
village tour ; and when darkness begins to approach,
the canoe drum is beat at every village, and the
228 THE LIGHT THAT SHIN ETH MOKE AND MORE.
people assemble under the banyan-tree for evening
village prayers. The Elder or Teacher presides.
Five or six hymns are joyously sung, and five or six
short prayers offered between, and thus the evening
hour passes happily in the fellowship of God. On a
calm evening, after Christianity had fairly taken hold
of the people, and they loved to sing over and over
again their favourite hymns, these village prayer-
meetings formed a most blessed close to every day,
and set the far-distant bush echoing with the praises
of God.
At the Mission House, before retiring to rest, we
assembled all the young people and any of our
villagers who chose to join them. They sat round
the dining-room floor in rows, sang hymns, read
verses of the Bible, and asked and answered ques-
tions about the teaching of the day. About nine
o'clock we dismissed them, but they pled to remain
and hear our Family Worship in English : —
" Missi, we like the singing ! We understand a
little. And we like to be where prayer is rising ! "
Thus Sabbath after Sabbath flowed on in incessant
service and fellowship. I was often wearied enough,
but it was not a " weary " day to me, nor what some
would call Puritanical and dull. Our hearts were in
it, and the people made it a weekly festival. They
had few other distractions ; and amongst them " The
Worship" was an unfailing sensation and delight
As long as you gave them a chance to sing, they
knew not what weariness was. When I returned to
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 229
so-called civilization, and saw how the Lord's Day
was abused in white Christendom, my soul longed
after the holy Sabbaths of Aniwa !
Nor is our week-day life less crowded or busy,
though in different ways. At grey dawn on Monday,
and every morning, the Tavaka ( = the canoe drum)
is struck in every village on Aniwa. The whole in-
habitants turn in to the early School, which lasts about
an hour and a half, and then the Natives are off to
their plantations. Having partaken my breakfast, I
then spend my forenoon in translating or printing, or
visiting the sick, or whatever else is most urgent
About two o'clock the Natives return from their work,
bathe in the sea, and dine off cocoa-nut, bread-fruit,
or anything else that comes handily in the way. At
three o'clock the bell rings, and the afternoon School
for the Teachers and the more advanced learners then
occupies my wife and myself for about an hour and a
half. After this, the Natives spend their time in fishing
or lounging or preparing supper, — which is amongst
them always the meal of the day. Towards sundown
the Tavaka sounds again, and the day closes amid
the echoes of village prayers from under their several
banyan trees.
Thus day after day and week after week passes
over us on Aniwa ; and much the same on all the
Islands where the Missionary has found a home. In
many respects it is a simple and happy and beau-
tiful life ; and the man, whose heart is full of things
that are dear to Jesus, feels no desire to exchange
230 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
it for the poor frivolities of what calls itself " Society/
and seems to finds its life in pleasures that Christ
cannot be asked to share, and in which, therefore,
Christians should have neither lot nor part.
The habits of morning and evening family prayer
and of grace at meat took a very wonderful hold
upon the people ; and became, as I have shown else-
where, a distinctive badge of Christian versus
Heathen. This was strikingly manifested during a
time of bitter scarcity that befell us. I heard a father,
for instance, at his hut door, with his family around
him, reverently blessing God for the food provided for
them, and for all His mercies in Christ Jesus. Draw-
ing near and conversing with them, I found that
their meal consisted of fig leaves which they had
gathered and cooked, — a poor enough dish; but
hunger makes a happy appetite, and contentment is
a grateful relish.
During the same period of privation, my Orphans
suffered badly also. Once they came to me, saying, —
" Missi, we are very hungry."
I replied, — " So am I, dear children, and we have
no more white food till the Dayspring comes."
They continued, — " Missi, you have two beautiful
fig trees. Will you let us take one feast of the young
and tender leaves? We will not injure branch or
fruit."
I answered, — "Gladly, my children, take your fill !'*
In a twinkling each child was perched upon a
branch; and they feasted there happy as squirrels
THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. 231
Every night we prayed for the vessel, and in the
morning our Orphan boys rushed to the coral rocks
and eagerly scanned the sea for an answer. Day
after day they returned with sad faces, saying, —
"Missi, Tavaka jimra /" (=No vessel yet).
But at grey dawn of a certain day, we were awoke
by the boys shouting from the shore and running for
the Mission House with the cry, — "Tavaka oa! Tavaka
oaf" ( = The vessel, hurrah!)
We arose at once, and the boys exclaimed, — " Missi,
she is not our own vessel, but we think she carries
her flag. She has three masts, and our Dayspring
only two ! "
I looked through my glass, and saw that they
were discharging goods into the vessel's boats ; and
the children, when I told them that boxes and bags
and casks were being sent on shore, shouted and
danced with delight. As the first boat-load was
discharged, the Orphans surrounded me, saying, —
" Missi, here is a cask that rattles like biscuits !
Will you let us take it to the Mission House ? "
" I told them to do so if they could ; and in a
moment it was turned into the path, and the boys
had it flying before them, some tumbling and hurting
their knees, but up and at it again, and never pausing
til! it rolled up at the door of our Storehouse. On
returning I found them all around it, and they
said, —
"Missi, have you forgotten what you promised us?"
I said, — " What did 1 promise you ? "
232 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
They looked very disappointed and whispered ta
each other, — " Missi has forgot 1 "
" Forgot what ? " inquired I.
" Missi," they answered, " you promised that when
the vessel came you would give each of us a biscuit."
" Oh," I replied, " I did not forget ; I only wanted
to see if you remembered it ! "
They laughed, saying, — " No fear of that, Missi !
Will you soon open the cask? We are dying for
biscuits."
At once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the
hoops, took out the end, and then gave girls and boys
a biscuit each. To my surprise, they all stood round
biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat.
" What," I exclaimed, " you are dying for biscuits !
Why don't you eat ? Are you expecting another ? "
One of the eldest said,—*' We will first thank God
for sending us food, and ask Him to bless it to us all."
And this was done in their own simple and beauti-
ful childlike way ; and then they did eat, and enjoyed
their food as a gift from the Heavenly Father's hand.
(Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read,
who never thanks God or asks Him to bless daily
bread ? Then is that child not a white Heathen ?)
We ourselves at the Mission House could very
heartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For some
weeks past our European food had been all ex-
hausted, except a little tea, and the cocoa-nut had
been our chief support. It was beginning to tell
against us. Our souls rose in gratitude to tfie Lord,
THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AMD MORE. 233
who had sent us these fresh provisions that we might
love Him better and serve Him more.
The children's sharp eyes had read correctly. It
was not the Dayspring. Our brave little ship had
gone to wreck on 6th January, 1873 ; and this vessel
was the Paragon, chartered to bring down our sup-
plies. Alas ! the wreck had gone by auction sale to a
French slaving company, who cut a passage through
the coral reef, and had the vessel again floating in
the Bay, — elated at the prospect of employing our
Mission Ship in the blood-stained Kanaka-traffic ( = a
mere euphemism for South Sea slavery)! Our souls
sank in horror and concern. Many Natives would
unwittingly trust themselves to the D ay spring ; and
revenge would be taken on us, as was done on noble
Bishop Patteson, when the deception was found out.
What could be done ? Nothing but cry to God,
which all the friends of our Mission did day and
night, not without tears, as we thought of the possible
degradation of our noble little Ship. Listen ! The
French Slavers, anchoring their prize in the Bay, and
greatly rejoicing, went ashore to celebrate the event.
They drank and feasted and revelled. But that
night a mighty storm arose, the old DayspHng
dragged her anchor, and at daybreak she was seen
again on the reef, but this time with her back broken
in two and for ever unfit for service, either fair or
foul. Oh, white-winged Virgin of the waves, better
for thee, as for thy human sisters, to die and pass away
than to suffer pollution and live on in disgrace !
234 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
Dr. Steel had chartered the Paragon, a new three-
masted schooner, built at Balmain, Sydney, to come
down with our provisions, letters, etc. ; and the owners
had given a written agreement that if we could pur-
chase her within a year we would get her for ^"3,000.
She proved in every way a suitable vessel, and it
became abundantly manifest that in the interests
of our Mission her services ought to be permanently
secured.
I had often said that I would not again leave my
beloved work on the Islands, unless compelled to do
so either by the breakdown of health, or by the loss
of our Mission Ship and my services being required
to assist in providing another. Very strange, that in
this one season both of these events befell us. During
the hurricanes, from January to April, 1873, when the
Day spring was wrecked, we lost a darling child by
death, my dear wife had a protracted illness, and I
was brought very low with severe rheumatic fever.
I was reduced so far that I could not speak, and was
reported as dying. The Captain of a vessel, having
seen me, called at Tanna, and spoke of me as in all
probability dead by that time. Our unfailing and
ever-beloved friends and fellow Missionaries, Mr.
and Mrs. Watt, at once started from Kwamera,
Tanna, in their open boat and rowed and sailed
thirty miles to visit us. But a few days before they
arrived I had fallen into a long and sound sleep, out
of which, when I awoke, consciousness had again
returned to me. I had got the turn ; there was no
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 235
further relapse ; but when I did regain a little strength,
my weakness was so great that I had to travel about
on crutches for many a day.
Being ordered to seek health by change and by
higher medical aid, and if possible in the cooler air of
New Zealand, we took the first opportunity and
arrived at Sydney, anxious to start the new move-
ment to secure the Paragon there, and then to go
on to the Sister Colony. Being scarcely able to walk
without the crutches, we called privately a preliminary
meeting of friends for consultation and advice. The
conditions were laid before them and discussed. The
Insurance Company had paid £2,000 on the first
Day spring. Of that sum £1,000 had been spent on
chartering and maintaining the Paragon; so that
we required an additional £2,000 to purchase her,
besides a large sum for alterations and equipment for
the Mission. The late Mr. Learmouth looked across
to Mr. Goodlet, and said, —
■ If you'll join me, we will at once secure this
vessel for the Missionaries, that God's work may not
suffer from the wreck of the Day spring. "
Those two servants of God, excellent Elders of
the Presbyterian Church, consulted together, and the
vessel was purchased next day. How I did praise
God, and pray Him to bless them and theirs ! The
late Dr. Fullarton, our dear friend, said to them, —
" But what guarantee do you ask from the Mission-
aries for your money ? "
Mr. Lear mouth's noble reply was, and the other
236 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE.
heartily re-echoed it, — " God's work is our guarantee !
From them we will ask none. What guarantee have
they to give us, except their faith in God ? That
guarantee is ours already."
I answered, — "You take God and His work foi
your guarantee. Rest assured that He will soon
repay you, and you will lose nothing by this noble
service."
Having secured St. Andrew's Church for a public
meeting, I advertised it in all the papers. Ministers,
Sabbath School Teachers, and other friends came in
great numbers. The scheme was fairly launched,
and Collecting Cards largely distributed. Some of
our fellow-Missionaries thought that the Colonial
Churches should now do all these things voluntarily,
without our personal efforts. But in every great
emergency some one must take action and show the
way, else golden opport unities are apt to slip. Com-
mittees carried everything out into detail, and all
worked for the fund with great goodwill.
I then sailed from Sydney to Victoria, and ad-
dressed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in session at Melbourne. The work was
easily set agoing there, and willing workers fully
and rapidly organized it through Congregations and
Sabbath Schools.
Under medical advice, I next sailed for New
Zealand in the S.S. Hero, Captain Logan. A large
number of fast men and gamblers were on board, re-
turning from the Melbourne Races, and their language
THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 237
was extremely profane. Having prayed over it, I
said on the second day at the dinner table, —
" Gentlemen, will you bear with me a moment ? I
am sure no man at this table wishes to wound the
feelings of another or to give needless pain."
Every eye stared at me, and there was a general
cry as to what I meant. I continued, —
" Gentlemen, we are to be fellow-passengers for a
week or more. Now I am cut and wounded to
my very heart to hear you cursing the name of my
Heavenly Father, and taking in vain the name of my
blessed Saviour. It is God in whom we live and
move, it is Jesus who died to save us, and I would
rather ten times over you would wound and abuse
me, which no gentleman here would think of doing,
than profanely use those Holy Names so dear to me."
There was a painful silence, and most faces grew
crimson, some with rage, some perhaps with shame.
At last a banker, who was there, a man dying of con-
sumption, replied with a profane oath and with
wrathful words. Keeping perfectly calm, in sorrow
and pity, I replied, looking him kindly in the face, —
" Dear Sir, you and I are strangers. But I have
pitied you very tenderly, ever since I came on board,
for your heavy trouble and hacking cough. You
ought to be the last to curse that blessed Name, as
you may soon have to appear in His presence. I re-
turn, however, no railing word. If the Saviour was
as dear to your heart as He is to mine, you would
better understand me."
238 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE.
Little else was said during the remainder of that
meal. But an hour later Captain Logan sent for me
to his room, and said, —
" Sir, I too am a Christian. I would not give my
quiet hour in the Cabin with this Bible for all the
pleasures that the world can afford. You did your
duty to-day amongst these profane men. But leave
them and their consciences now in the hands of God,
and take no further notice during the voyage."
I never heard another oath on board that ship.
The banker met me in New Zealand and warmly in-
vited me to his house !
My health greatly improved during the voyage ,
but I was sorely perplexed about this new under-
taking. A sum of £2,800 must be raised, else the
vessel could not sail free for the New Hebrides.
I trembled, in my reduced state, at the task that
seemed laid upon me again. One night, after long
praying, I fell into a deep sleep in my Cabin, and
God granted me a Heavenly Dream or Vision which
greatly comforted me, explain it how you will.
Sweetest music, praising God, arrested me and came
nearer and nearer. I gazed towards it approaching,
and seemed to behold hosts of shining beings bursting
into view. The brilliancy came pouring all from one
centre, and that was ablaze with insufferable bright-
ness. Blinded with excess of light, my eyes seemed
yet to behold in fair outline the form of the glorified
Jesus ; but as I lifted them to gaze on His face, the
joy deepened into pain, my hand rose instinctively to
THE LIGHT THAT SHIN ETH MORE AND MORE. 239
shade my eyes, I cried with ecstasy, the music passed
farther and farther away, and I started up hearing
a Voice saying, in marvellous power and sweetness,
"Who art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerub-
babel thou shalt become a plain." At this some will
only smile. But to me it was a great and abiding
consolation. And I kept repeating to myself, " He
is Lord, and they all are ministering Spirits ; if He
cheers me thus in His own work, I take courage, I
know I shall succeed."
Reaching Auckland, I was in time to address the
General Assembly of the Church there also. They
gave me cordial welcome, and every Congregation
and Sabbath School might be visited as far as I
possibly could. The ministers promoted the move-
ment with hearty zeal. The Sabbath Scholars took
Collecting Cards for " shares " in the new Mission
Ship. A meeting was held every day, and three
every Sabbath. Auckland, Nelson, Wellington,
Dunedin, and all towns and Churches within reach
of these were rapidly visited ; and I never had
greater joy or heartiness in any of my tours than
in this happy intercourse with the Ministers and
People of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand.
I arrived back in Sydney about the end of March.
My health was wonderfully restored, and New Zea-
land had given me about ^1,700 for the new ship.
With the £1,000 of insurance money, and about £700
from New South Wales, and £400 from Victoria,
besides the £500 for her support also from Victoria,
240 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE.
we were able to pay back the ^3,000 of purchase
money, and about ^800 for alterations and repairs, as
well as equip and provision her to sail for her next
year's work amongst the Islands free of debt. I said
to our two good friends at Sydney, —
"You took God and His work for your guarantee.
He has soon relieved you from all responsibility. You
have suffered no loss, and you have had the honour
and privilege of serving your Lord. I envy you the
joy you must feel in so using your wealth, and I pray
God's double blessing on all your store."
Our agent, Dr. Steele, had applied to the Home
authorities for power to change the vessel's name
from Paragon to Dayspringt so that the old associa-
tions might not be broken. This was cordially
granted. And so our second Dayspring> owing no
man anything, sailed on her annual trip to the New
Hebrides, and we returned with her, praising the
Lord and reinvigorated alike in spirit and in body.
CHAPTER VIII.
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
The Gospel in Living Capitals. — "A Shower of Spears."— The
Tannese Refugees. — Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei. —
The Character of Naswai. — Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts. —
Nerwa the Agnostic. — Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell. — The
Story of Ruwawa. — Waiwai and his Wives. — Nelwang and
Kalangi. — Mungaw and Litsi Sore. — The Maddening of
Mungavv. — The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary. — The
Surrender of Nasi to Jesus. —Day-Light Prayer Meeting
on Aniwa. — Candidates for Baptism. — The Appeal and
Testimony of Lamu.
IN Heathendom every true Convert becomes at
once a Missionary. The changed life, shining
out amid the surrounding darkness, is a Gospel in
largest Capitals which all can read. Our Islanders,
especially, having little to engage or otherwise dis-
tract attention, become intense and devoted workers
for the Lord Jesus, if once the Divine Passion for
souls stirs within them. Many a reader, not making
due allowance for these special circumstances, would
therefore be tempted to think our estimate of their
enthusiasm for the Gospel was overdone ; but
thoughtful men will easily perceive that Natives,
P. 241 16
242 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
touched with the mighty impulses of Calvary, and
undistracted by social pleasures or politics, or litera-
ture, or business claims, would almost by a moral
necessity pour all the currents of their being into
Religion, and probably show an apostolic devotion
and self-sacrifice too seldom seen, alas, amid the
thousand clamouring appeals of Civilization.
A Heathen has been all his days groping after
peace of soul in dark superstition and degrading
rites. You pour into his soul the light of Revelation.
He learns that God is love, that God sent His Son
to die for him, and that he is the heir of Life Eternal
in and through Jesus Christ. By the blessed en-
lightenment of the Spirit of the Lord he believes
all this. He passes into a third heaven of joy, and
he burns to tell every one of this Glad Tidings.
Others see the change in his disposition, in his
character, in his whole life and actions ; and, amid
such surroundings, every Convert is a burning and
a shining light. Even whole populations are thus
brought into the Outer Court of the Temple ; and
Islands, still Heathen and Cannibal, are positively
eager for the Missionary to live amongst them
and would guard his life and property now in com-
plete security, where a very few years ago everything
would have been instantly sacrificed on touching
their shores ! They are not Christianized, neither
are they Civilized, but the light has been kindled
all around them, and though still only shining afar,
they cannot but rejoice in its beams.
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANlWANS. 243
But even where the path is not so smooth, nor
any welcome awaiting them, Native Converts show
amazing zeal. For instance, one of our Chiefs, full
of the Christ-kindled desire to seek and to save, sent
a message to an inland Chief, that he and four attend-
ants would come on Sabbath and tell them the
Gospel of Jehovah God. The reply came back
sternly forbidding their visit, and threatening with
death any Christian that approached their village.
Our Chief sent in response a loving message, telling
them that Jehovah had taught the Christians to
return good for evil, and that they would come un-
armed to tell them the story of how the Son of God
came into the world and died in order to bless and
save His enemies. The Heathen Chief sent back a
stern and prompt reply once more : — " If you come,
you will be killed." On Sabbath morning, the
Christian Chief and his four companions were met
outside the village by the Heathen Chief, who im-
plored and threatened them once more. But the
former said, —
" We come to you without weapons of war ! We
come only to tell you about Jesus. We believe that
He will protect us to-day."
As they steadily pressed forward towards the
village, spears began to be thrown at them. Some
they evaded, being all except one most dexterous
warriors ; and others they literally received with their
bare hands, and turned them aside in an incredible
manner. The Heathen, apparently thunderstruck
244 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS.
at these men thus approaching them without weapons
of war, and not even flinging back their own spears
which they had caught, after having thrown what
the old Chief called " a shower of spears," desisted
from mere surprise. Our Christian Chief called out,
as he and his companions drew up in the midst of
them on the village Public Ground, —
"Jehovah thus protects us. He has given us all
your spears ! Once we would have thrown them
back at you and killed you. But now we come not
to fight, but to tell you about Jesus. He has changed
our dark hearts. He asks you now to lay down
all these your other weapons of war, and to hear what
we can tell you about the love of God, our great
Father, the only living God."
The Heathen were perfectly over-awed. They
manifestly looked upon these Christians as protected
by some Invisible One. They listened for the first
time to the story of the Gospel and of the Cross.
We lived to see that Chief and all his tribe sitting
in the School of Christ. And there is perhaps not
an Island in these Southern Seas, amongst all those
won for Christ, where similar acts of heroism on
the part of Converts cannot be recited by every
Missionary to the honour of our poor Natives and
to the glory of their Saviour.
Larger and harder tests were sometimes laid upon
their new faith. Once the war on Tanna drove
about one hundred of them to seek refuge on Aniwa,
Not so many years before their lives would never
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWAMS. 245
have been thus entrusted to the inhabitants of another
Cannibal Island. But the Christ-Spirit was abroad
upon Anivva. The refugees were kindly cared for,
and in process of time were restored to their own
lands by our Missionary ship the Dayspring. The
Chiefs, however, and the Elders of the Church laid
the new laws before them very clearly and decidedly.
They would be helped and sheltered, but Aniwa
was now under law to Christ, and if any of the Tan-
nese broke the public rules as to moral conduct, or in
any way disturbed the Worship of Jehovah, they
would at once be expelled from the Island and sent
back to Tanna. In all this, the Chief of the Tanna
party, my old friend Nowar, strongly supported our
Christian Chiefs. The Tannese behaved well, and
many of them wore clothing and began to attend
Church ; and the heavy drain upon the poor re-
sources of Aniwa was borne with a noble and
Christian spirit, which greatly impressed the Tan-
nese and commended the Gospel of Christ.
In claiming Aniwa for Christ, and winning it as a
jewel for His crown, we had the experience which has
ever marked God's path through history, — He raised
up around us and wonderfully endowed men to carry
forward His own blessed work. Among these must
be specially commemorated Namakei, the old Chief
of Aniwa. Slowly, but very steadily, the light of the
Gospel broke in upon his soul, and he was ever very
eager to communicate to his people all that he
teamed. In Heathen days he was a Cannibal and
246 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS.
a great warrior ; but from the first, as shown in the
preceding chapters, he took a warm interest in us
and our work, — a little selfish, no doubt, at the
beginning, but soon becoming purified as his eyes
and heart were opened to the Gospel of Jesus.
On the birth of a son to us on the Island, the
old Chief was in ecstasies. He claimed the child
as his heir, his own son being dead, and brought
nearly the whole inhabitants in relays to see the
white Chief of Aniwa ! He would have him called
Namakei the Younger, an honour which I fear we
did not too highly appreciate. As the child grew,
he took his hand and walked about with him freely
amongst the people, learning to speak their language
like a Native, and not only greatly interesting them
in himself, but even in us and in the work of the Lord.
This, too, was one of the bonds, however purely
human, that drew them all nearer and nearer to Jesus.
The death of Namakei had in it many streaks
of Christian romance. He had heard about the
Missionaries annually meeting on one or other of
the Islands and consulting about the work of
Jehovah. What ideas he had formed of a Mission
Synod one cannot easily imagine; but in his old age,
and when very frail, he formed an impassioned
desire to attend our next meeting on Aneityum, and
see and hear all the Missionaries of Jesus gathered
together from the New Hebrides. Terrified that he
would die away from home, and that that might
bring great reverses to the good work on Aniwa:
PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. 247
where he was truly beloved, I opposed his going with
all my might. But he and his relations and his
people were all set upon it, and I had at length to
give way. His few little books were then gathered
together, his meagre wardrobe was made up, and a
small Native basket carried all his belongings. He
assembled his people and took an affectionate farewell,
pleading with them to be "strong for Jesus," whether
they ever saw him again or not, and to be loyal and
kind to Missi. The people wailed out, and many
wept bitterly. Those on board the Dayspring were
amazed to see how his people loved him. The old
Chief stood the voyage well. He went in and out
to our meeting of Synod, and was vastly pleased
with the respect paid to him on Aneityum. When
he heard of the prosperity of the Lord's work, and
how Island after Island was learning to sing the
praises of Jesus, his heart glowed, and he said, —
" Missi, I am lifting up my head like a tree. I
am growing tall with joy ! "
On the fourth or fifth day, however, he sent for
me out of the Synod, and when I came to him, he
said, eagerly, —
" Missi, I am near to die ! I have asked you to
come and say farewell. Tell my daughter, my
brother, and my people to go on pleasing Jesus, and
I will meet them again in the fair World."
I tried to encourage him, saying that God might
raise him up again and restore him to his people ;
but he faintly whispered, —
248 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS.
" O Missi, death is already touching me ! I feel
my feet going away from under me. Help me to
lie down under the shade of that banyan tree."
So saying, he seized my arm, we staggered near to
the tree, and he lay down under its cool shade. He
whispered again, —
" I am going ! O Missi, let me hear your words
rising up in prayer, and then my Soul will be strong
to go."
Amidst many choking sobs, I tried to pray. At
last he took my hand, pressed it to his heart, and
said in a stronger and clearer tone, —
"O my Missi, my dear Missi, I go before you,
but I will meet you again in the Home of Jesus.
Farewell ! "
That was the last effort of dissolving strength ;
he immediately became unconscious, and fell asleep.
My heart felt like to break over him. He was my
first Aniwan Convert, — the first who ever on that
Island of love and tears opened his heart to Jesus ;
and as he lay there on the leaves and grass, my
soul soared upward after his, and all the harps of
God seemed to thrill with song as Jesus presented
to the Father this trophy of redeeming love. He
had been our true and devoted friend and fellow-
helper in the Gospel, and next morning all the
members of our Synod followed his remains to the
grave. There we stood, the white Missionaries of
the Cross from far distant lands, mingling our tears
with Christian Natives of Aneityum, and letting
FEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. 249
them fall over one who only a few years before was
a blood-stained Cannibal, and whom now we mourned
as a brother, a saint, an Apostle amongst his people.
Ye ask an explanation? The Christ entered into
his heart, and Namakei became a new Creature,
" Behold, I make all things new."
We were in positive distress about returning to
Aniwa without the Chief, and we greatly feared the
consequences. To show our perfect sympathy with
them, we prepared a special and considerable present
for Litsi his daughter, for his brother, and for other
near friends — a sort of object lesson, that we had
in every way been kind to old Namakei, as we now
wished to be to them. When our boat approached
the landing, nearly the whole population had as-
sembled to meet us ; and Litsi and his brother were
far out on the reef to salute us. Litsi's keen eye
had missed old Namakei's form ; and far as words
could carry I heard her voice crying, —
" Missi, where is my father ?"
I made as if I did not hear ; the boat was draw-
ing slowly near, and again she cried aloud, " Missi,
where is my father ? Is Namakei dead ! "
I replied, — " Yes. He died on Aneityum. He is
now with Jesus in Glory."
Then arose a wild, wailing cry, led by Litsi and
taken up by all around. It rose and fell like a chant
or dirge, as one after another wailed out praise and
sorrow over the name of Namakei. We moved
slowly into the boat harbour. Litsi, the daughter,
250 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AM WANS.
and Kalangi his brother, shook hands, weeping sadly,
and welcomed us back, assuring us that we had
nothing to fear. Amidst many sobs and wailings,
Litsi told us that they all dreaded he would never
return, and explained to this effect : —
" We knew that he was dying, but we durst not
tell you. When you agreed to let him go, he went
round and took farewell of all his friends, and told
them he was going to sleep at last on Aneityum,
and that at the Great Day he would rise to meet
Jesus with the glorious company of the Aneityumese
Christians. He urged us all to obey you and be
true to Jesus. Truly, Missi, we will remember my
dear father's parting word, and follow in his steps,
and help you in the work of the Lord ! "
The other Chief, Naswai, now accompanied us to
the Mission House, and all the people followed,
wailing loudly for Namakei. On the following
Sabbath, I told the story of his conversion, life for
Jesus, and death on Aneityum ; and God overruled
this event, contrary to our fears, for greatly increas-
ing the interest of many in the Church and in the
claims of Jesus upon themselves.
Naswai, the friend and companion of Namakei,
was an inland Chief. He had, as his followers, by
far the largest number of men in any village on
Aniwa. He had certainly a dignified bearing, and
his wife Katua was quite a lady in look and manner
as compared with all around her. She was the first
woman on the Island that adopted the clothes of
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 251
civilization, and she showed considerable instinctive
taste in the way she dressed herself in these. Her
example was a kind of Gospel in its good influence
on all the women ; she was a real companion to
her husband, and went with him almost every-
where.
Naswai, after he became a Christian, had a touch
of scorn in his manner, and was particularly stern
against every form of lying or deceit. I used some-
times to let jobs to Naswai, such as fencing or
thatching, at a fixed price. He would come with a
staff of men, say thirty or forty, see the work
thoroughly done, and then divide the price gener-
ously in equal portions amongst the workers, seldom
keeping anything either in food or wages for himself.
On one occasionrthe people of a distant village were
working for me. Naswai assisted and directed them.
On paying them, one of the company said, —
"Missi, you have not paid Naswai. He worked
as hard as any of us."
Naswai turned upon him with the dignity of a
prince, and said, —
" I did not work for pay ! Would you make
Missi pay more than he promised ? Your conduct
is bad. I will be no party to your bad ways."
And, with an indignant wave of his hand, he
stalked away in great disdain.
Naswai was younger and more intelligent than
Namakei, and in everything except in translating the
Scriptures he was much more of a fellow-helper in
252 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
the work of the Lord. For many years it was
Naswai's special delight to carry my pulpit Bible
from the Mission House to the Church every Sab-
bath morning, and to see that everything was in
perfect order before the Service began. He was
also the Teacher in his own village School, as well
as an Elder in the Church. His preaching was
wonderfully happy in its graphic illustrations, and
his prayers were fervent and uplifting. Yet his
people were the worst to manage on all the Island,
and the very last to embrace the Gospel.
He died when we were in the Colonies on furlough
in 1875 ; and his wife Katua very shortly pre-deceased
him. His last counsels to his people made a great
impression on them. They told us how he pleaded
with them to love and serve the Lord Jesus, and how
he assured them with his dying breath that he had
been " a new creature " since he gave his heart to
Christ, and that he was perfectly happy in going to
be with his Saviour.
I must here recall one memorable example of
Naswai's power and skill as a preacher. On one
occasion the Dayspring brought a large deputation
from Fotuna to see for themselves the change which
the Gospel had produced on Aniwa. On Sabbath,
after the Missionaries had conducted the usual
Public Worship, some of the leading Aniwans ad-
dressed the Fotunese ; and amongst others, Naswai
spoke to the following effect : —
"Men of Fotuna, you come to see what the
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 253
Gospel has done for Aniwa. It is Jehovah the living
God that has made all this change. As Heathens,
we quarrelled, killed and ate each other. We had
no peace and no joy in heart or house, in villages or
in lands ; but we now live as brethren and have
happiness in all these things. When you go back
to Fotuna, they will ask you, « What is Christianity V
And you will have to reply, ' It is that which has
changed the people of Aniwa.' But they will still
say, ■ What is it ? ' And you will answer, ' It is that
which has given them clothing and blankets, knives
and axes, fish-hooks and many other useful things ;
it is that which has led them to give up fighting,
and to live together as friends.' But they will ask
you, ' What is it like ? ' And you will have to tell
them, alas, that you cannot explain it, that you have
only seen its workings, not itself, and that no one
can tell what Christianity is but the man that loves
Jesus, the Invisible Master, and walks with Him and
tries to please Him. Now, you people of Fotuna,
you think that if you don't dance and sing and pray
to your gods, you will have no crops. We once did
so too, sacrificing and doing much abomination to
our gods for weeks before our planting season every
year. But we saw our Missi only praying to the
Invisible Jehovah, and planting his yams, and they
grew fairer than ours. You are weak every year
before your hard work begins in the fields, with your
wild and bad conduct to please your gods. But we
are strong for our work, for we pray to Jehovah,
«54 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
and He gives quiet rest instead of wild dancing, and
makes us happy in our toils. Since we followed
Missi's example, Jehovah has given us large and
beautiful crops, and we now know that He gives us
all our blessings."
Turning to me, he exclaimed, " Missi, have you
the large yam we presented to you ? Would you not
think it well to send it back with these men of
Fotuna, to let their people see the yams which
Jehovah grows for us in answer to prayer ? Jehovah
is the only God who can grow yams like that ! "
Then, after a pause, he proceeded, — " When you
go back to Fotuna, and they ask you, ' What is
Christianity ? ' you will be like an inland Chief of
Erromanga, who once came down and saw a great
feast on the shore. When he saw so much food and
so many different kinds of it, he asked, ' What is this
made of ? ' and was answered, ' Cocoa-nuts and yams.'
'And this ? ' ' Cocoa-nuts and bananas.' ' And this ? '
* Cocoa-nuts and tare' ' And this ? ' Cocoa-nuts and
chestnuts,' etc., etc. The Chief was immensely as-
tonished at the host of dishes that could be prepared
from the cocoa-nuts. On returning, he carried home
a great load of them to his people, that they might
see and taste the excellent food of the shore-people.
One day, all being assembled, he told them the
wonders of that feast; and, having roasted the cocoa-
nuts, he took out the kernels, all charred and spoiled,
and distributed them amongst his people. They
tasted the cocoa-nut, they began to chew it, and then
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 255
spat it out, crying, ' Our own food is far better than
that! ' The Chief was confused and only got laughed
at for all his trouble. Was the fault in the cocoa-
nuts ? No ; but they were spoiled in the cooking !
So your attempts to explain Christianity will only
spoil it. Tell them that a man must live as a Chris-
tian before he can show others what Christianity is."
On their return to Fotuna they exhibited Jehovah's
yam, given in answer to prayer and labour; they
told what Christianity had done for Aniwa ; but did
not fail to qualify all their accounts with the story
of the Erromangan Chief and the cocoa-nuts, with its
very practical lesson.
The two Chiefs of next importance on Aniwa
were Nerwa and Ruwawa. Nerwa was a keen de-
bater; all his thoughts ran in the channels of logic
When I could speak a little of their language, I
visited and preached at his village ; but the moment
he discovered that the teaching about Jehovah was
opposed to their Heathen customs, he sternly for-
bade us. One day, during my address, he blossomed
out into a full-fledged and pronounced Agnostic (with
as much reason at his back as the European type 1)
and angrily interrupted me :—
" It's all lies you come here to teach us, and you
call it Worship 1 You say your Jehovah God dwells
in Heaven. Who ever went up there to hear Him or
see Him ? You talk of Jehovah as if you had visited
His Heaven. Why, you cannot climb even to the
top of one of our cocoa-nut trees, though we can,
256 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS.
and that with ease ! In going up to the roof of
your own Mission House, you require the help of a
ladder to carry you. And even if you could make
your ladder higher than our highest cocoa-nut tree,
on what would you lean its top ? And when you
get to its top, you can only climb down the other
side and end where you began ! The thing is im-
possible. You never saw that God ; you never
heard Him speak ; don't come here with any of your
white lies, or I'll send my spear through you."
He drove us from his village, and furiously
threatened murder, if we ever dared to return. But
very soon thereafter the Lord sent us a little orphan
girl from Nerwa's village. She was very clever, and
could both read and write, and told over all that we
taught her. Her visits home, or at least amongst the
villagers where her home had been, her changed
appearance and her childish talk, produced a very
deep interest in us and in our work.
An orphan boy next was sent from that village to
be kept and trained at the Mission House, and he
too took back his little stories of how. kind and good
to him were Missi the man and Missi the woman.
By this time Chief and people alike were taking a
lively interest in all that was transpiring. One day
the Chief's wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came to
the Worship and said, —
" Nerwa's opposition dies fast. The story of the
Orphans did it. He has allowed me to attend the
Church, and to get the Christian's book."
PEN.PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 257
We gave her a book and a bit of clothing. She
went home and told everything. Woman after
woman followed her from that same village, and
some of the men began to accompany them. The
only thing in which they showed a real interest was
the children singing the little hymns which I had
translated into their own Aniwan tongue, and which
my wife had taught them to sing very sweetly and
joyfully. Nerwa at last got so interested that he
came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank in
the joyful sound. In a short time he drew so near
that he could hear our preaching, and then began
openly and regularly to attend the Church. His
keen reasoning faculty was constantly at work. He
weighed and compared everything he heard, and
soon out-distanced nearly all of them in his grasp of
the ideas of the Gospel. He put on clothing, joined
our School, and professed himself a follower of the
Lord Jesus. He eagerly set himself, with all his
power, to bring in a neighbouring Chief and his
people, and constituted himself at once an energetic
and very pronounced helper to the Missionary.
On the death of Naswai, Nerwa at once took his
place in carrying my Bible to the Church, and seeing
that all the people were seated before the stopping
of the bell. I have seen him clasping the Bible like
a living thing to his breast, and heard him cry, —
" Oh, to have this treasure in my own words of
Aniwa!"
When Matthew and Mark were at last printed in
P. 17
25S PEN-PORTRAITS OF A Nl WANS.
Aniwan, he studied them incessantly, and soon
could read them freely. He became the Teacher
in his own village School, and delighted in instruct-
ing others. He was assisted by Ruwawa, whom he
himself had drawn into the circle of Gospel influence ;
and at our next election these two friends were
appointed Elders of the Church, and greatly sus-
tained our hands in every good work on Aniwa.
After years of happy and useful service, the time
came for Nerwa to die. He was then so greatly
beloved that most of the inhabitants visited him
during his long illness. He read a bit of the Gospels
in his own Aniwan, and prayed with and for every
visitor. He sang beautifully, and scarcely allowed
any one to leave his bedside without having a verse
of one or other of his favourite hymns, " Happy
Land," and " Nearer, my God, to Thee." On my
last visit to Nerwa, his strength had gone very low,
but he drew me near his face, and whispered, —
" Missi, my Missi, I am glad to see you. You see
that group of young men ? They came to sympathize
with me ; but they have never once spoken the name
of Jesus, though they have spoken about everything
else ! They could not have weakened me so, if they
had spoken about Jesus ! Read me the story of
Jesus ; pray for me to Jesus. No ! stop, let us call
them, and let me speak with them before I go."
I called them all around him, and he strained
his dying strength, and said, " After I am gone,
\et there be no bad talk, no Heathen ways. Sing
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIVVANS. 25s
Jehovah's songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury me as
a Christian. Take good care of my Missi, and help
him all you can. I am dying happy and going to be
with Jesus, and it was Missi that showed me this
way. And who among you will take my place in the
village School and in the Church ? Who amongst
you all will stand up for Jesus ? "
Many were shedding tears, but there was no reply ;
after which the dying Chief proceeded, —
" Now let my last work on earth be this : — we will
read a chapter of the Book, verse about, and then I
will pray for you all, and the Missi will pray for me,
and God will let me go while the song is still sound-
ing in my heart 1 "
At the close of this most touching exercise, we
gathered the Christians who were near-bye close
around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, " There is a
Happy Land." As they sang, the old man grasped
my hand, and tried hard to speak, but in vain. His
head fell to one side, " the silver cord was loosed,
and the golden bowl was broken."
Soon after his burial, the best and ablest man in
the village, the husband now of the orphan girl
already referred to, came and offered himself to take
the Chief's place as Teacher in the village School ;
and in that post he was ably assisted by his wife, our
"little maid," the first who carried the news of the
Gospel life to her tribe, and inclined their ears to
listen to the message of Jesus.
His great friend, Ruwawa the Chief, had waited by
2bo PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
Nervva like a brother till within a few days of the
latter's death, when he also was smitten down appa-
rently by the same disease. He was thought to be
dying, and he resigned himself calmly into the hands
of Christ. One Sabbath afternoon, sorely distressed
for lack of air, he instructed his people to carry him
from the village to a rising ground on one of his
plantations. It was fallow ; the fresh air would
reach him ; and all his friends could sit around him.
They extemporized a rest, — two posts stuck into the
ground, slanting, sticks tied across them, then dried
banana leaves spread on these and also as a cushion
on the ground, — and there sat Ruwawa, leaning back
and breathing heavily. After the Church Services,
I visited him, and found half the people of that side
of the Island sitting round him, in silence, in the open
air. Ruwawa beckoned me, and I sat down before
him. Though suffering sorely, his eye and face had
the look of ecstasy.
" Missi," he said, " I could not breathe in my
village ; so I got them to carry me here, where there
is room for all. They are silent and they weep,
because they think I am dying. If it were God's
will, I would like to live and to help you in His
work. I am in the hands of our dear Lord. If He
takes me, it is good ; if He spares me, it is good !
Pray, and tell our Saviour all about it."
I explained to the people, that we would tell our
Heavenly Father how anxious we all were to see
Ruwawa given back to us strong and well to work
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWaNS. 261
for Jesus, and then leave all to His wise and holy
disposal. I prayed, and the place became a very
Bochim. When I left him, Ruwawa exclaimed, —
" Farewell, Missi ; if I go first, I will welcome you
to Glory ; if I am spared, I will work with you for
Jesus ; so all is well ! "
One of the young Christians followed me and
said, — "Missi, our hearts are very sore! If Ruwawa
dies, we have no Chief to take his place in the
Church, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah's
Worship on Aniwa."
I answered, — " Let us each tell our God and Father
all that we feel and all that we fear ; and leave
Ruwawa and our work in His holy hands."
We did so, with earnest and unceasing cry. And
when all hope had died out of every heart, the Lord
began to answer us ; the disease began to relax its
hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health.
As soon as he was able, though still needing help, he
found his way back to the Church, and we all offered
special thanksgiving to God. He indicated a desire
to say a few words ; and although still very weak,
spoke with great pathos thus : —
" Dear Friends, God has given me back to you all.
I rejoice thus to come here and praise the great
Father, who made us all, and who knows how to
make and keep us well. I want you all to work
hard for Jesus, and to lose no opportunity of trying
to do good and so to please Him. In my deep
journey away near to the grave, it was the memory
262 PEN-FORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
of what I had done in love to Jesus that made my
heart sing. I am not afraid of pain, — my dear
Lord Jesus suffered far more for me and teaches me
how to bear it. I am not afraid of war or famine or
death, or of the present or of the future ; my dear
Lord Jesus died for me, and in dying I shall live
with Him in Glory. I fear and love my dear Lord
Jesus, because He loved me and gave Himself for
me.
Then he raised his right hand, and cried in a soft,
full-hearted voice, — " My own, my dear Lord Jesus ! "
and stood for a moment looking joyfully upward, as
if gazing into his Saviour's face. When he sat down,
there was a long hush, broken here and there by a
smothered sob ; and Ruwawa's words produced an
impression that is remembered to this day.
In 1888, when I visited the Islands, Ruwawa was
still devoting himself heart and soul to the work of
the Lord on Aniwa. Assisted by Koris, a Teacher
from Aneityum, and visited occasionally by our ever-
dear and faithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, from
Tanna, the good Ruwawa carries forward all the
work of God on Aniwa, along with others, in our
absence as in our presence. The meetings, the Com-
municants' Class, the Schools, and the Church Services
are all regularly conducted and faithfully attended.
" Bless the Lord, O my soul ! "
I am now reminded of the story of Waiwai, both
because it was interesting for his own personality,
and also as illustrating our difficulties about the deli-
PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. 263
cate question of many wives. He was a man of
great wisdom, and had in his early days displayed
unwonted energy. His assistance in finding exact
and idiomatic equivalents for me, while translating
the Scriptures, was of the highest value.
He had been once at the head of a numerous
people, but was now literally a Chief without a tribe.
His son and heir was smitten down with sunstroke,
while helping us to get the coral limestone, and
shortly thereafter died. His only daughter was
married to a young Chief. And at last, of all his
seven wives only two remained alive.
He became a regular attender at Church, and when
our first Communicants' Class was formed, Waiwai
and his two wives were enrolled. At Communion
time, he was dreadfully disappointed when informed
that he could neither be baptized nor admitted to the
Lord's Table till he had given up one of his wives,
as God allowed no Christian to have more than one
wife at a time. They were advised to attend regu-
larly, and learn more and more of Christianity, till
God opened up their way in regard to this matter;
that it might be done from conscience, under a sense
of duty to Christ, and if at all possible by peaceable
and mutual agreement.
Waiwai professed to be willing, but found it terribly
hard to give up either of his wives. They had houses
far apart from each other, for they quarrelled badly,
as is usual in such cases. But both were excellent
workers, both were very attentive to the wants of
264 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
Waiwai, and he managed to keep on affectionate
terms with both. After all the other men on the
Island had, under the influence of Christianity, given
up all their wives save one, Waiwai began to feel
rather ashamed of being the conspicuous exception,
or thought it prudent to pretend to be ashamed ; and
so he publicly scolded them both, ordering one or
other to go and leave him, that he might be enabled
to join the Church and be a Christian like the rest.
But I learned privately that he did not wish either
to go, and that he would shoot the one that dared to
leave him. I remonstrated with him on his hypo-
crisy, warning him that God knew his heart. At last
he said, that sino.- neither of them would depart, he
would leave them both and go to Tanna for a year,
ordering one or other of them to get married during
his absence. He did go, but on his return found
both still awaiting him at their respective stations.
He pretended to scold them very vigorously in public;
but his duplicity was too open, and I again very
solemnly rebuked him for double dealing, showing
him that not even men were deceived by him, much
less the all-seeing God. He frankly admitted his
hypocrisy. He loved both ; he did not want to part
with either ; and both were excellent workers !
In process of time the younger of the two women
bore him a beautiful baby boy, about which he was
immensely uplifted ; and a short while thereafter the
elder woman died. At her grave the inveterate talk-
ing instinct of these Islanders asserted itself, and
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 265
Waiwai made a speech to the assembled people in
the following strain : —
" 0 ye people of Aniwa, I was not willing to give
up either of my wives for Jesus ; but God has taken
one from me and laid her there in the grave ; and
now I am called to be baptized, and to follow Jesus."
The two now regularly attended Church, and
learned diligently at the Communicants' Class. Both
seemed to be very sincere, and Waiwai particularly
showed a very gentle Christian spirit, and seemed to
brood much upon the loss of family and people and
tribe that had befallen him. His had been indeed a
crushing discipline, and it was not yet complete.
For, shortly before the Communion at which they
were to be received into fellowship, his remaining
wife became suddenly ill and died also. At her
grave the old man wept very bitterly, and made
another speech, but this time in tones of more intense
reality than before, as if the iron had entered his
very soul : —
"Listen, all ye men of Aniwa, and take warning
by Waiwai. I am now old, and ready to drop into
the grave alone. My wives kept me back from Jesus,
but now they are all taken, and I am left without one
to care for me or this little child. I tried to deceive
the Missi, but I could not deceive God. When I
was left with only one wife, I said that I would now be
baptized and live as a Christian. But God has taken
her also. I pretended to serve the Lord, when I was
only serving and pleasing myself. God has now
266 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
broken my heart all to pieces. I must learn no
longer to please myself, but to please my Lord. Oh,
take warning by me, all ye men of Aniwa! Lies
cannot cheat the great Jehovah God."
Poor broken-hearted Waiwai had sorrow upon
sorrow to the full. We had agreed to baptize him
and admit him to the Lord's Table. But a terrible
form of cramp, sometimes met with on the Islands,
overtook him, shrinking up both his legs, and curving
his feet up behind him. He suffered great agony,
and could neither walk nor sit without pain. In
spite of all efforts to relieve him, this condition
became chronic ; and he died at last from the effects
thereof during our absence on furlough.
His married daughter took charge of him and of
the little boy ; and so long as I was on Aniwa during
his illness, I visited and instructed and ministered to
him in every possible way. He prayed much, and
asked God's blessing on all his meals ; but all that I
could say failed to lead him into the sunshine of the
Divine Love. And the poor soul often revealed the
shadow by which his heart was clouded by such cries
as these, — " I lied to Jehovah 1 It is He that punishes
me ! I lied to Jesus ! "
Readers may perhaps think that this case of the
two wives and our treatment of it was too hard upon
Waiwai; and those will be the most ready to condemn
us, who have never been on the spot, and who cannot
see all the facts as they lie under the eyes of the
Missionary. How could we ever have led Natives to
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 267
see the difference betwixt admitting a man to the
Church who had two wives, and not permitting a
member of the Church to take two wives after his
admission ? Their moral sense is blunted enough
without our knocking their heads against a conun-
drum in ethics ! In our Church membership we
have to draw the line as sharply as God's law will
allow betwixt what is Heathen and what is Christian,
instead of minimising the difference.
Again, we found that the Heathen practices were
apparently more destructive to women than to men ;
so that in one Island, with a population of only two
hundred, I found that there were thirty adult men
over and above the number of women. As a rule,
for every man that has two or more wives, the same
number of men have no wives and can get none ;
and polygamy is therefore the prolific cause of
hatreds and murders innumerable.
Besides all this, to look at things in a purely
practical light, as the so-called " practical men " are
our scornful censors in these affairs, it is really no
hardship for one woman, or any number of women,
to be given up when the man becomes a Christian
and elects to have one wife only ; for every one so
discarded is at once eagerly contended for by the
men who had no hope of ever being married, and
her chances of comfort and happiness are infinitely
improved. We had one Chief who gave up eleven
wives on his being baptized. They were without a
single exception happily settled in other homes.
268 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS.
And he became an earnest and devoted Chris-
tian.
While they remain Heathen, and have many wives
to manage, the condition of most of the women is
worse than slavery. On remonstrating with a Chief,
who was savagely beating one of his wives, he indig-
nantly assured me, —
" We must beat them, or they would never obey us.
When they quarrel, and become bad to manage, we
have to kill one, and feast on her. Then all the other
wives of the whole tribe are quiet and obedient for a
long time to come."
I knew one Chief, who had many wives, always
jealous of each other and violently quarrelling amongst
themselves. When he was off at war, along with his
men, the favourite wife, a tall and powerful woman,
armed herself with an axe, and murdered all the
others. On his return he made peace with her, and,
either in terror or for other motives, promised -to
forego and protect her against all attempts at revenge.
One has to live amongst the Papuans, or the Malays,
in order to understand how much Woman is indebted
to Christ !
The old Chiefs only brother was called Kalangi.
Twice in Heathen days he tried to shoot me. On the
second occasion he heard me rebuking his daughter
for letting a child destroy a beautiful Island plant in
front of our house. He levelled his musket at me,
but his daughter, whom we were training at the Mis-
sion House, ran in front of it, and cr'ed, — " O father,
PEN PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 269
don't shoot Missi ! He loves me. He gives us food
and clothing. He teaches us about Jehovah and
Jesus ! "
Then she pled with me to retire into the house,
saying,—" He will not shoot you for fear of shooting
me. I will soothe him down. Leave him to me, and
flee for safety."
Thus she probably saved my life. Time after time
he heard from this little daughter all that we taught
her, and all she could remember of our preaching.
By-and-bye he showed a strong personal interest in the
things he heard about Jesus, and questioned deeply,
and learned diligently. When he became a Christian,
he constituted himself, along with Nelwang, my
body-guard, and often marched near me, or within safe
distance of me, armed with tomahawk and musket,
when I journeyed from village to village in the pre-
Christian days. Once, on approaching one of our
most distant villages, Nelwang sprang to my side,
and warned me of a man in the bush watching an
opportunity to shoot me. I shouted to the fellow,—
" What are you going to shoot there ? This is the
Lord's own Day ! "
He answered, " Only a bird."
I replied, " Never mind it to-day. You can shoot
it to-morrow. We are going to your Village. Come
on before us, and show us the way ! "
Seeing how I was protected, he lowered his musket,
and marched on before us. Kalangi addressed the
people, after I had spoken and prayed. In course of
270 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
time they became warm friends of the Worship ; and
that very man and his wife, who once sought my life,
sat with me at the Lord's Table on Aniwa. And the
little girl, above referred to, is now the wife of one of
the Elders there, and the mother of three Christian
children, — both she and her husband being devoted
workers in the Church of God.
Litsi, the only daughter of Namakei, had, both in
her own career and in her connection with poor, dear
Mungaw, an almost unparalleled experience. She
was entrusted to us when very young, and became a
bright, clever, and attractive Christian girl. Many
sought her hand, but she disdainfully replied, —
" I am Queen of my own Island, and when I like I
will ask a husband in marriage, as you told us that
the great Queen Victoria did ! "
Her first husband, however won, was undoubtedly
the tallest and most handsome man on Aniwa ; but
he was a giddy fool, and, on his early death, she again
returned to live with us at the Mission House. Her
second marriage had everything to commend it, but
it resulted in indescribable disaster. Mungaw, heir
to a Chief, had been trained with us, and gave every
evidence of decided Christianity. They were married
in the Church, and lived in the greatest happiness.
He was able and eloquent, and was first chosen as
a deacon, then as an Elder of the Church, and finally
as High Chief of one half of the Island. He showed
the finest Christian spirit under many trying circum-
stances. Once, when working at the lime for the
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANI IVANS. 271
building of our Church, two bad men, armed with
muskets, sought his life for some revenge or another.
Hearing of the quarrel, I rushed to the scene, and
heard him saying, —
" Don't call me coward, or think me afraid to die.
If I died now, I would go to be with Jesus. But I
am no longer a Heathen ; I am a Christian, and
wish to treat you as a Christian should."
Others now coming to the rescue, the men were
disarmed ; and, after much talk, they professed them-
selves ashamed, and promised better conduct for the
future. Next day they sent a large present as a
peace-offering to me, but I refused to receive it till
they should first of all make peace with the young
Chief. They sent a larger present to him, praying
him to receive it, and to forgive them. Mungaw
brought a still larger present in exchange, laid it
down at their feet in the Public Ground, shook hands
with them graciously, and forgave them in presence
of all the people. His constant saying was, —
" I am a Christian, and I must do the conduct of
a Christian."
In one of my furloughs to Australia I took the
young Chief with me, in the hope of interesting the
Sabbath Schools and Congregations by his eloquent
addresses and noble personality. The late Dr.
Cameron, of Melbourne, having heard him, as trans-
lated by me, publicly declared that Mungaw's appear-
ance and speech in his Church did more to show him
the grand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen
272 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
than all the Missionary addresses he ever listened to
or read.
Our lodging was in St. Kilda. My dear wife was
suddenly seized with a dangerous illness on a visit
to Taradale, and I was telegraphed for. Finding that
I must remain with her, I got Mungaw booked for
Melbourne, on the road for St. Kilda, in charge of a
railway guard. Some white wretches, in the guise
of gentlemen, offered to see him to the St. Kilda
Station, assuring the guard that they were friends of
mine, and interested in our Mission. They took him,
instead, to some den of infamy in Melbourne. On
refusing to drink with them, he said they threw him
down on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him
till he was nearly dead. Having taken all his money
(he had only two or three pounds, made up of little
presents from various friends), they thrust him out to
the street, with only one penny in his pocket.
On becoming conscious, he applied to a policeman,
who either did not understand or would not inter-
fere. Hearing an engine whistle, he followed the
sound, and found his way to Spencer Street Station.
There he stood for a whole day, offering his penny
for a ticket by every train, and was always refused.
At last a sailor took pity on him, got him some food,
and led him to the St. Kilda Station. Again ha
proffered his penny, only to meet with refusal after
refusal, till he broke down, and cried aloud in such
English as desperation gave him, —
" If me savvy road, me go. Me no savvy road, and
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 273
stop here me die. My Missi Paton live at Kilda. Me
want go Kilda. Me no more money. Bad fellow took
all ! Send me Kilda."
Some gentle Samaritan gave him a ticket, and he
reached our house at St. Kilda at last. There for
above three weeks the poor creature lay in a sort of
stupid doze. Food he could scarcely be induced to
taste, and he only rose now and again for a drink of
water. When my wife was able to be removed thither
also, we found dear Mungaw dreadfully changed in
appearance and in conduct. Twice thereafter I took
him with me on Mission work ; but, on medical advice,
preparations were made for his immediate return to
the Islands. I entrusted him to the kind care of
Captain Logan, who undertook to see him safely on
board the Davspring, then lying at Auckland. Mun-
gaw was delighted, and we hoped everything from
his return to his own land and people. After some
little trouble, he was landed safely home on Aniwa
But his malady developed dangerous and violent
symptoms, characterized by long periods of quiet
and sleep, and then sudden paroxysms, in which he
destroyed property, burned houses, and was a terror
to all.
On our return he was greatly delighted ; but he
complained bitterly that the white men " had spoiled
his head," and that when it " burned hot " he did all
these bad things, for which he was extremely sorry
He deliberately attempted my life, and most cruelly
abused his dear and gentle wife ; and then, when the
p. 18
274 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
frenzy was over, he wept and lamented over it. Many
a time he marched round and round our House with
loaded musket and spear and tomahawk, while we
had to keep doors and windows locked and barri-
caded ; then the paroxysm passed off, and he slept,
long and deep, like a child. When he came to him-
self, he wept and said, —
" The white men spoiled my head ! I know not
ivhat I do. My head burns hot, and I am driven."
One day, in the Imrai, he leapt up with a loud-
belling war-cry, rushed off to his own house, set fire
to it, and danced around till everything he possessed
was burned to ashes. Nasi, a bad Tannese Chief
living on Aniwa, had a quarrel with Mungaw about
a cask found at the shore, and threatened to shoot
him. Others encouraged him to do so, as Mungaw
was growing every day more and more destructive
and violent. When a person became outrageous or
insane on Aniwa, — as they had neither asylum nor
prison, they first of all held him fast and discharged a
musket close to his ear ; and then, if the shock did
not bring him back to his senses, they tied him up
for two days or so ; and finally, if that did not restore
him, they shot him dead. Thus the plan of Nasi was
favoured by their own customs. One night, after
family worship, — for amidst all his madness, when
clear moments came, he poured out his soul in faith
and love to the Lord, — he said, —
" Litsi, I am melting ! My head burns. Let us
go out and get cooled in the open air."
PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 275
She warned him not to go, as she heard voices
whispering under the verandah. He answered a little
wildly, —
" I am not afraid to die. Life is a curse and
burden. The white men spoiled my head. If there
is a hope of dying, let me go quickly and die ! "
As he crossed the door, a ball crashed through
him, and he fell dead. We got the mother and her
children away to the Mission House ; and next
morning they buried the remains of poor Mungaw
under the floor of his own hut, and enclosed the
whole place with a fence. It was a sorrowful close
to so noble a career. I shed many a tear that I ever
took him to Australia. What will God have to say
to those white fiends who poisoned and maddened
poor dear Mungaw ?
After a while the good Queen Litsi was happily
married again. She became possessed with a great
desire to go as a Missionary to the people and tribe
of Nasi, the very man who had murdered her hus-
band. She used to say, —
"Is there no Missionary to go and teach Nasi's
people ? I weep and pray for them, that they too
may come to know and love Jesus."
I answered, — " Litsi, if I had only wept and
prayed for you, but stayed at home in Scotland,
would that have brought you to know and love Jesus
as you do ? "
" Certainly not," she replied.
"Now then," I proceeded, "would it not please
2?6 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWAXS.
Jesus and be a grand and holy revenge, if you, the
Christians of Aniwa, could carry the Gospel to the
very people whose Chief murdered Mungaw ? "
The idea took possession of her soul. She was
never wearied talking and praying over it. When at
length a Missionary was got for Nasi's people, Litsi
and her new husband placed themselves at the head
of a band of six or eight Aniwan Christians, and
planted themselves there to open up the way and
assist as Native Teachers tiie Missionary and his
wife. There she and they have laboured ever since.
They are " strong " for the Worship. Her son is
being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of the
Church, to be " the good Chief of Aniwa " ; so she
calls him in her prayers, as she cries on God to bless
and watch over him, while she is serving the Lord in
the Mission field. Many years have now passed ; and
when lately I visited that part of Tanna, Litsi ran to
me, clasped my hand, kissed it with many sobs, and
cried, —
" O my father ! God has blessed me to see you
again. Is my mother, your dear wife, well ? And
your children, my brothers and sisters ? My love to
them all ! O my heart clings to you ! "
We had sweet conversation, and then she said
more calmly, —
" My days here are hard. I might be happy and
wealthy as Queen on Aniwa But the Heathen here
are beginning to listen. The Missi sees them coming
nearer to Jesus. And oh, what a reward when we
PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. 277
shall hear them sing and pray to our dear Saviour 1
The hope of that makes me strong for anything."
My heart often says within itself — When, when
will men's eyes at home be opened ? When will the
rich and the learned and the noble and even the
princes of the Earth renounce their shallow frivolities,
and go to live amongst the poor, the ignorant, the
outcast, and the lost, and write their eternal fame
on the souls by them blessed and brought to the
Sayiour ? Those who have tasted this highest joy,
"the joy of the Lord," will never again ask, — Is Life
worth living? Life, any life, would be well spent,
under any conceivable conditions, in bringing one
human soul to know and love and serve God and
His Son, and thereby securing for yourself at least
one temple where your name and memory would be
held for ever and for ever in affectionate praise, — a
regenerated Heart in Heaven. That fame will prove
immortal, when all the poems and monuments and
pyramids of Earth have gone into dust.
Nasi, the Tannaman, was a bad and dangerous
character, though some readers may condone his
putting an end to Mungaw in the terrible circum-
stances of our case. During a great illness that
befell him, I ministered to him regularly, but no
kindness seemed to move him. When about to leave
Aniwa, I went specially to visit him. On parting 1
said, —
" Nasi, are you happy ? Have you ever been
happy ? "
278 PEN PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS.
He answered gloomily, — " No ! Never."
I said, — u Would you like this dear little boy of
yours to grow up like yourself, and lead the life you
have lived ? "
"No!" he replied warmly; "I certainly would
not."
" Then," I continued, " you must become a Chris-
tian, and give up all your Heathen conduct, or he will
just grow up to quarrel and fight and murder as you
have done ; and, O Nasi, he will curse you through
all Eternity for leading him to such a life and to
such a doom ! "
He was very much impressed, but made no re-
sponse. After we had sailed, a band of our young
Native Christians held a consultation over the case
of Nasi. They said, —
" We know the burden and terror that Nasi has
been to our dear Missi. We know that he has mur-
dered several persons with his own hands, and has
taken part in the murder of others. Let us unite in
daily prayer that the Lord would open his heart and
change his conduct, and teach him to love and folbw
what is good, and let us set ourselves to win Nasi for
Christ, just as Missi tried to win us."
So they began to show him every possible kind-
ness, and one after another helped him in his daily
tasks, embracing every opportunity of pleading with
him to yield to Jesus and take the new path of life.
At first he repelled them, and sullenly held aloof.
But their prayers never ceased, and their patient
PEN-FORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 279
affections continued to grow. At last, after long
waiting, Nasi broke down, and cried to one of the
Teachers, —
" I can oppose your Jesus no longer.. If He can
make you treat me like that, I yield myself to Him
and to you. I want Him to change me too. I want
a heart like that of Jesus."
He took the ugly paint patches from his face ; he
cut off his long Heathen hair ; he went to the sea
and bathed, washing himself clean ; and then he
came to the Christians and dressed himself in a shirt
and a kilt. The next step was to get a book, — his
was the translation of the Gospel according to St.
John. He eagerly listened to every one that would
read bits of it aloud to him, and his soul seemed to
drink in the new ideas at every pore. He attended
the Church and the School most regularly, and could
in a very short time read the Gospel for himself.
The Elders of the Church took special pains in in-
structing him, and after due preparation he was
admitted to the Lord's Table— my brother Mis-
sionary from Tanna baptizing and receiving him.
Imagine my joy on learning all this regarding one
who had sullenly resisted my appeals for many years,
and how my soul praised the Lord who is " Mighty
to save ! "
On my recent visit to Aniwa, in 1886, God's
almighty compassion was further revealed to me,
when I found that Nasi the murderer was now a
Scripture Reader, and able to comment in a wonder-
280 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
ful and interesting manner on what he reads to the
people ! When I arrived on a visit to the Island,
after my last tour in Great Britain in the interests of
our Mission, all the inhabitants of Aniwa seemed to
be assembled at the boat-landing to welcome me,
except Nasi. He was away fishing at a distance, and
had been sent for, but had not yet arrived. On the
way to the Mission House, he came rushing to meet
me. He grasped my hand, and kissed it, and burst
into tears. I said, —
" Nasi, do I now at last meet you as a Christian ? "
He warmly answered, "Yes, Missi ; I now worship
and serve the only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Bless God, I am a Christian at last ! "
My soul went out with the silent cry, " Oh, that the
men at home who discuss and doubt about conversion,
and the new heart, and the power of Jesus to change
and save, could but look on Nasi, and spell out the
simple lesson, — He that created us at first by His
power can create us anew by His love ! "
My first Sabbath on Aniwa, after the late tour in
Great Britain and the Colonies, gave me a blessed
surprise. Before daybreak I lay awake thinking of
all my experiences on that Island, and wondering
whether the Church had fallen off in my four years'
absence, when suddenly the voice of song broke on
my ears ! It was scarcely full dawn, yet I jumped
up and called to a man that was passing, —
" Have I slept in ? Is it already Church-time ?
Or why are the people met so early ? "
PEN-PORTRAITS OF A iX I WANS. 281
He was one of their leaders, and gravely replied,—
"Missi, since you left, we have found it very hard to
live near to God ! So the Chief and the Teachers
and a few others meet when daylight comes in every
Sabbath morning, and spend the first hour of every
Lord's Day in prayer and praise. They are met to
pray for you now, that God may help you in your
preaching, and that all hearts may bear fruit to the
glory of Jesus this day."
I returned to my room, and felt quite prepared
myself. It would be an easy and a blessed thing to
lead such a Congregation into the presence of the
Lord ! They were there already.
On that day every person on Aniwa seemed to be
at Church, except the bedridden and the sick. At
the close of the Services, the Elders informed me that
they had kept up all the Meetings during my absence,
and had also conducted the Communicants' Class,
and they presented to me a considerable number of
candidates for membership. After careful examina-
tion, I set apart nine boys and girls, about twelve or
thirteen years of age, and advised them to wait for at
least another year or so, that their knowledge and
habits might be matured. They had answered every
question, indeed, and were eager to be baptized and
admitted ; but I feared for their youth, lest they
should fall away and bring disgrace on the Church.
One of them, with very earnest eyes, looked at me
and said, —
" We have been taught that whosoever believeth is
232 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
to be baptized. We do most heartily believe in Jesus,
and try to please Jesus."
I answered, — " Hold on for another year, and then
our way will be clear."
But he persisted, — " Some of us may not be living
then ; and you may not be here. We long to be
baptized by you, our own Missi, and to take our place
among the servants of Jesus."
After much conversation I agreed to baptize them,
and they agreed to refrain from going to the Lord's
Table for a year ; that all the Church might by that
time have knowledge and proof of their consistent
Christian life, though so young in years. This dis-
cipline, I thought, would be good for them ; and the
Lord might use it as a precedent for guidance in
future days.
Of other ten adults at this time admitted, one was
specially noteworthy. She was about twenty-five,
and the Elders objected because her marriage had not
been according to the Christian usage on Aniwa.
She left us weeping deeply. I was writing late at
night in the cool evening air, as was my wont in that
oppressive tropical clime, and a knock was heard at
my door. I called out, —
" Akai era ? " (= Who is there ?)
A voice softly answered, — " Missi, it is Lamu. Oh,
do speak with me ! "
This was the rejected candidate, and I at once
opened the door.
"Oh, Missi," she began, "I cannot sleep, I cannot
PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. 283
eat ; my soul is in pain. Am I to be shut out from
Jesus ? Some of those at the Lord's Table com-
mitted murder. They repented, and have been saved.
My heart is very bad ; yet I never did any of those
crimes of Heathenism ; and I know that it is my joy
to try and please my Saviour Jesus. How is it that
I only am to be shut out from Jesus ? "
I tried all I could to guide and console her, and she
listened to all very eagerly. Then she looked up at
me and said, —
" Missi, you and the Elders may think it right to
keep me back from showing my love to Jesus at the
Lord's Table ; but I know here in my heart that
Jesus has received me ; and if I were dying now, I
know that Jesus would take me to Glory and present
me to the Father."
Her look and manner thrilled me. I promised to
see the Elders and submit her appeal. But Lamu
appeared and pled her own cause before them with
convincing effect. She was baptized and admitted
along with other nine. And that Communion Day
will be long remembered by many souls on Aniwa.
It has often struck me, when relating these events,
to press this question on the many young people, the
highly privileged white brothers and sisters of Lamu,
Did you ever lose one hour of sleep or a single meal
in thinking of your Soul, your God, the claims of
Jesus, and your Eternal Destiny ?
And when I saw the diligence and fidelity of these
poor Aniwan Elders, teaching and ministering during
284 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS.
all those years, my soul has cried aloud to God,
Oh, what could not the Church accomplish if the
educated and gifted Elders and others in Christian
lands would set themselves thus to work for Jesus, to
teach the ignorant, to protect the tempted, and to
rescue the fallen I
CHAPTER IX.
LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
Editorial Preface.— Letter for 1867. — Not Tanna but Aniwa.—
"Missi Paton versus Teapots." — The Humour of Taia. —
Evening Village-Prayers. — "Make him Bokis Sing."— My
Sewing Class.— "That no Gammon."— " Talk Biritania."
— The Marriage of Kahi. . . . Letter for 1869. — First
Communicants on Aniwa. — Mungawand the Mission Boys.
— The Blessing of the Day spring. . . . Letter for 1874. —
Home to Aniwa. — "Taking Possession." — "Another Soul
Committed to our Care." — Hutshi and her Lover. — Six
Missionaries on Aniwa. . . . Letter for 1875. — Missi
Paton and "Joseph " and the Tannese. — A Tropical Hurri-
cane—The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi.— Taia Baited by
Nalihi. — Earthquakes and Tidal Waves. — Farewells. . . .
Letter for 1878. — A Madman at Large. — The Passing of
Yawaci. — The Madness and Death of Mungaw. — Our
Native Elders. — Music on the Waters. — A Wicked Vow.
. . . Letter for 1879.— New Year's Day on Aniwa. — A
Miserable Slaver.— Litsi Married Again. — Mission Synod
on Erromanga. — Tragic and Holy Memories.— Day-Light
on Tanna. — Pigs in Galore.— Arrowroot for Jehovah.
[THE EDITOR takes upon himself the responsibility
of presenting here a picture of life among the New
Hebrideans, as portrayed by the graphic and gifted
pen of Mrs. John G. Paton.
His only regret is that the exigencies of space
»8S
286 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
compel him to give mere fragments of these Letters,
instead of the full-flowing descriptions, which have
led him to regard them as amongst the most charm-
ing pieces of Missios&ry literature with which he has
become acquainted.
He apologizes also to that dear lady herself for
the liberty he is thus taking with her " Family
Epistles," — written for the delight of her inner circle
of friends, and for their eyes alone. He is well aware
that if she were at his side, instead of being in the
New Hebrides, while he is sending these pages to
press, nothing would probably induce her to give her
consent to this appearance in print. But he trusts
that her wrath will be assuaged, when she returns to
the Colonies and learns how the Christian Public ap-
prove in this respect of what her friend has done.
The Editor makes no apology to the reader for
this break in the flow of the story, or even for
re-touching one or two scenes that are past, for he
already instinctively knows that even these fragments
will be appreciated, as a great enrichment to the
Autobiography which he has been privileged to
introduce to them.]
(1867.)
TO REV. DR. MACDONALD, SOUTH MELBOURNE.
". . . How much I enjoyed your kind letter which came
by the Daysprins; last month ! I was delighted indeed to hear
that your Parish now extends to the New Hebrides, — rather a
scattered one certainly, nevertheless you are bound to look
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 287
after your flock, and we shall soon be expecting a pastoral
visit. . . .
"You were, I dare say, surprised when you heard that we
had been sent to Aniwa instead of Tanna. It was a blow
which Mr. Paton has hardly got over yet ; but all the brethren
were decidedly opposed to us going there alone, and we feel
now that we have been Divinely led hither. Mr. Inglis, in his
last kind letter, said to Mr. Paton that he believed he was
doing more real work for Tanna, by bringing the Aniwans to a
knowledge of the truth and thus fitting them for by-and-bye
spreading the Gospel among the Tannese, than if he were now
labouring alone among that dense mass of people. We are
encouraged, therefore, to hope that there may be many ambas-
sadors for Christ from this little Island, for the Aniwans are a
superior people, and the work has made steady and rapid pro-
gress of late. I don't mean that half the people are converted,—
very far from that 1 There is a great deal to be done, before
the soil is prepared even to receive the seed,— they cling so to
their old prejudices and superstitions. I believe, to many of
them, it is like taking a great leap into the dark to risk the
anger of their gods by coming to the Worship. For what proof
have they at first that we are leading them into the right way ?
True, they see we wish to be kind ; but the idea of any one
coming among them simply for their good is a doctrine they
cannot understand.
" We are very thankful to have so many regularly at Church ;
and Mr. Paton possessed a great advantage in being able to
address them from the first in Tannese, which some of them
speak freely, — hence the double hope of training them as
helpers for Tanna. You would be surprised to see with what
propriety the Services are conducted. The Native Teachers, two
devoted men from Aneityum who have been here for years, try
to give short speeches. Then Mr. Paton usually invites one or
other of the more enlightened of the Aniwans to speak, which
he does by invariably pitching into his brethren in the most
energetic terms, comparing them to pigs, dogs, serpents, etc.,
the speaker not generally including himself, and asking how
long they mean to continue their 'black-hearted conduct'?
288 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
"They are never at a loss for a text, and for a long time
after we came it sounded to me something like ' Missi Paton
and Teapots.' I supposed it to be, ' Missi Paton versus Tea-
pots,' but by-and-bye I discovered that it was not Teapots, but
Teapolo ( = Devil), against which they stormed. Lately they
have been choosing more sacred subjects, generally a repetition
of what they have heard from Mr. Paton before, or been helping
him to translate during the week. Last Sabbath, we were much
struck with the gentle, persuasive tones of the old Chief who
was addressing them. Mr. Paton noted down two words he
did not remember having heard before, and asked for the
translation after worship. The man took him by the hand and
said in Tannese, ' Missi, I was only telling them what you have
been teaching us all this time about Jesus pouring out His
blood to wash away all our sins ! '
"Taia, and Namakei the Chief, two of our firmest friends,
give very telling speeches sometimes. The former is a tall and
powerful fellow, quite a notoriety on account of his loquacious
powers. He has a great deal of ready wit too ; and, though he
does little else but talk, it is wonderful what influence he exerts.
Some time ago, he prevented a violent quarrel ending in pro-
bable bloodshed. The party who thought themselves insulted
ran home, seized their arms, and were rushing past Taia's
house, where he was lying outside, basking in the sun and
enjoying his pipe. He saw something was wrong, for they
don't continue the habit of carrying their arms constantly now,
and he called out to them (of course in their own language),
'Stop ! stop ! let me see what you are carrying. Is it the book
that Missi has been busy making?' His sly hit set them all
a-laughing, and they turned into his house ; there he had a long
and serious talk with them, and got them to give up the idea
of fighting, at least for that day. The next being Sabbath, he
came to Mr. Paton before the Service to ask him to let him
speak ; and, having both the offending parties present, he did
give it them, finishing up by reminding them how difficult it
had been to get a Missionary, and how he, Taia, had gone to
Aneityum to plead for more Native Teachers after they had
murdered Nemeyan and tried to kill Navalak, and how he had
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 289
always been careful to give them food to do the work of Jehovah !
In that part of the speech referring to his own conduct, there
were a few embellishments which in strict regard to truth might
have been omitted ; but his advice seemed to do good, for we
heard no more of that quarrel.
" Taia, however, does not always do as he professes, and Mr.
Paton sometimes feels it incumbent on him to call Taia to
account ; but Taia's equanimity is never in the least ruffled.
He sits listening with his chin resting upon his knees, looking
up now and again with a bland smile, saying, ' Ah, very good
talk that, Missi 1 Very good talk that ! ' . . .
" Namakei never fails, when well, to take Mr. Paton's Bible
and lay it on the desk every Sabbath and Wednesday before the
Service, and to get the people in the village assembled for wor-
ship, which we have every evening under a large banyan tree in
the Imrai ( = the public meeting-ground), the great place of
general rendezvous, which is close behind our house.
" I particularly enjoy this Evening Service, when all Nature
is at rest and looks so exquisitely beautiful, everything reflecting
the gorgeous sunsets and nothing heard but the soft rustle of
the leaves and what Longfellow calls 'the symphony of Ocean.
I think the Natives, too, are inspired with it, for none of us
seem inclined to move off after worship, and often, but espe-
cially on Sabbath evenings, we sit still and sing over all our
hymns. They never tire of this, being all of them intensely
fond of music. . . .
" I was heartily amused, the first time I was called upon to
perform on Aniwa ! We had just unpacked the harmonium,
one day, about a fortnight after our arrival. The news must
have spread like wildfire ; for, towards evening, about forty or
fifty people came marching towards the Church (the house
where we stayed till our new home was built), the foremost
shouting in broken English, 'Missi, make him bokis ( — box)
sing ! Plenty man come hear you make him bokis sing ! '
" I must not omit to tell you about my peculiar charge, and a
very pleasant one it is, I mean my own Sewing Class. Nearly
fifty women and girls attend pretty regularly every morning,
except Wednesday and Saturday, and we spend two hours
P. 19
290 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
(often more) together sewing and singing. They are very tract-
able and willing to learn, having taken a great fancy for sewing.
I never dreamt it would be really such delightful work teaching
them, but my heart was drawn to them from the first, and I
will always feel grateful to them for the kindly way they be-
haved to me when I landed amongst them, timid and rather
frightened at feeling myself the only white woman on these
lonely shores. . . .
" Mr. Paton took the matter much more coolly, seeming to
take for granted that they were all his ' dear friends,' though
most of the men, really fine fellows we have since found them,
thought it advisable to receive us with a good deal of impudence,
trying how far we could be imposed upon ! Plenty of them talk
a little English, and really it was almost laughable to hear them
telling the most monstrous lies with such a long innocent face,
that one would suppose they believed them themselves, and
then gravely adding, ' That no gammon ! ' . . .
" I feel the sewing, however, to be only a stepping-stone to
something far more important. It brings me into contact with
them so as to learn their language. I so long to be able to talk
freely to them ; but it is slow work with me ! How the Apostles
must have appreciated the gift of Tongues on the day of Pente-
cost ! I wonder if it was accorded to their wives as well ? It
is so provoking, when you think you have mastered enough to
venture on a little conversation with them, to see them looking
at each other wonderingly. Some time ago, in talking to a girl,
I plunged a little deeper than usual, thinking to astonish her
with my wisdom, but she looked up innocently and told me she
' did not savvy talk Biritania ! ' I must have made awful blun-
ders at first. But some of the women can talk Tannese as well
as the men ; and I got Mr. Paton's help in any great difficulty,
though he did not at all times enjoy the interruption, especially
if the point in question turned out to be only about a needle and
a thread, while he had been called away when setting up the
type for our first Aniwan book ! . . .
" Before closing this long epistle, I want to tell you about our
first Christian marriage here, especially as the Bride was decked
out from your Emerald Hill box, last sent, — at least partly so. It
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 291
was a deeply interesting occasion. Kahi, the bride, was one of
my scholars, a pretty young widow of about seventeen ; and
Ropu, her lover, was such a nice fellow, too, a great favourite
of Mr. Paton's. They seemed really attached ; but Kahi's
father-in-law demurred about giving her away, as he considered
her still his property, having given a high price (present ?) for
her when he bought her for his son. One morning, however,
Ropu appeared with such a number of fat pigs, that they quite
took the old man's heart by storm, and he declared that he
might have her that day, if the Missi thought it was right. The
Missi did not object, but advised them to get married in Church ;
and I determined to give Kahi a nice present, in order to tempt
her young companions to follow her example ; not a very high
motive, to be sure, but if the prospect of a good present will
induce them to alter their habits in regard to marriage, I have
not the slightest objection that it should be so. It's about the
highest motive some of them can yet appreciate, and there is
no vital principle, after all, at stake in the mere form. We made
the event as public as the time would permit, and there was
quite a little gathering to witness the ceremony. Poor Kahi
was brought to me in tears ; but "/hen we put on her nice skirt
and jacket, and she caught sight of the pretty hat which hap-
pened to be trimmed with orange blossom, she seemed to
think she had indulged long enough in sentiment and dried her
tears quite briskly, looking out from under her long eyelashes
from side to side with great admiration, and when at last I put
a glaring red handkerchief into her hand she fairly laughed
aloud ! There was a little trouble with them in Church, as they
would not come near enough to join hands till they were pushed ;
and then the poor girl got her marriage vows repeated to her
on the deafest side of her head, for, being too bashful or some-
thing of the sort to give the response, it seemed to be the public
opinion that Mr. Paton was letting her off too easily, and the
men taking up the question thundered it in such a manner as
to elicit a pretty quick reply !
" . . . P.S. " 6th December.
" Please send the Dayspring quickly down this season ; for I
have found this morning to my horror, that the whole stock of
292 LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
flour has gone useless, and not a bit of bread shall we get till
the Vessel returns ! I suppose we are indebted to the climate
and the weevil together for this. We have plenty of other food,
— so no danger of starving."
(1869.)
TO A LADY.
..." To spend such a day as we did a few Sabbaths ago
when our little Church of God on Aniwa was formally constituted,
we felt to be worth more than all the sacrifices connected with
our isolated life. We had a very good attendance, 180 being
present, and an unusual solemnity and interest pervaded the
Church throughout the whole Services. The Communicants,
twelve in number, were arranged in rows from the platform to
my seat, so that they occupied the space in the centre ; and, as
they stood up to answer the form of questions Mr. Paton put
to them before receiving Baptism, you could scarcely have
conceived a more interesting group. Vasi, our eldest member,
must we think be near to ninety ; but, aged and infirm as he is,
he came every day to School vith his spectacles on, and is one
of Mr. Paton's best writers as well as readers. Our old chief,
Namakei, was there, with his daughter Litsi. She is his only
child living, and is almost as great a comfort to me as to her
father. She was the first girl who came to live with us, and,
being the eldest on our Premises, she sets a good example to the
others. Her devotion to Mr. Paton amounts almost to idolatry.
She seems as if she never could be grateful enough to him for
being the means of her conversion. But the one I felt most
interest in was Namakei's sister, a very gentle and delicate-
looking woman. I knew what it had cost her to profess her
faith in Jesus, and how her husband and son were even then
jeering and laughing at her. If I had time, I could tell you
something interesting about each of them, for of course it
was our knowing all their little histories that made it so in*
tensely gratifying a sight to us. I can remember when one
began to wear clothing, when another cut off his long hair,
and when one whom we had thought a very hardened charac-
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 293
ter came one day with the last of his idols, saying, — ' Now,
Missi, these are the very last. I have no more.'
"It was a beautiful sight to see these all standing up neatly
clothed, in the midst of their benighted brethren, to declare
themselves on the Lord's side ; and more than one could wit-
ness without deep emotion. Never did I feel happier in any
society on Earth, than when partaking of our Saviour's body
and blood with these dark Sisters and Brothers, now united
with me in Jesus. It was a day long to be remembered. I
trust it will be so even in Eternity, with thanksgiving. Our
dear friend and sister Missionary, Mrs. McNair, was with us,
paying a long-promised visit ; and I felt so glad she happened
to be here at the time, for she says she never witnessed a more
beautiful and affecting spectacle. We have every reason to hope
that the true work of grace is begun in their hearts. Mr. Paton
had much satisfaction in them while attending his Candidates'
Class ; and their own earnest inquiries were what delighted him
most. How often have we had cause to set up our Ebenezer
since coming to this far-off land ; and this is but a small begin-
ning, yet we have most emphatically reason to thank the Lord
and take courage. . . .
" Mungaw was so disgusted at having to wear a kilt, that I
did not dare to mention about cutting his long hair ; and Mr.
Paton does not wish the Natives to be forced to these things,
for he always says that, when their hearts are changed, they
will be sure to give up these things of their own accord. I
know that this is very true ; but as I don't see that there would
be any harm in having the short hair first, I coaxed Mungaw
to cut his, and he looks very much more civilized.
" We have a gathering of boys now on the Premises ; for
Mungaw had not been installed into his office two days, before
a few others came and asked quite humbly that they might be
allowed to do something for the Missi. We were truly amazed
as well as gratified at this unexpected proposal ; for the boys
here, as a rule, are the idlest and most impudent set I ever saw.
They seem to be the ' masters ' too, for no one thinks of con-
tradicting a boy. Of course, Mr. Paton told them that he was
very glad to have them come, as he wanted to teach them a
294 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
great deal they ought to know. They are really doing toler-
ably well, and I feel so thankful to have a man-cook, as there
are so many things connected therewith that men or boys re-
quire to do and that they will not do to help a woman; for
instance, chopping wood and black-leading the stove. . . .
" The Dayspring is a great blessing to us all. There is little
fear of any Missionary now on the most savage Islands being
ill-treated, if they see that he is well looked after. Of course, I
mean ' humanly speaking,' the fear is nil; and if we be kept in
safety, and our work in the end begins to prosper, that dear
little Vessel and her supporters have more to do with it all than
might by some be imagined. Two of our Natives, one of them
the wildest character on Aniwa, were engaged by Captain
Fraser to go as boat's crew, the trip before last ; and they
came back in ecstasies, declaring there was never such a
Captain as the one on board the Dayspring. He was so kind
and good to them, for when they came to any Island without a
Missionary, he would not let them go on shore for fear of being
killed, and that would have damaged our work on Aniwa.
Then they counted on their finger ends, with great glee, the
things they had received in payment ; and as these are good
and useful articles, it engenders a love for such things instead
of the paint and stuffs they get from the Traders, while their
huge ambition for sailing and sight-seeing is gratified."
(1874.)
TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE
" My dearest Mother, Sisters, and Brothers, — . . .
I must, however, arrive at Aniwa more by degrees, as this is to
be the journalistic Family Epistle, and you have heard nothing
of us since we left Sydney on the 4th April, with dear Dr.
Steele on board, who seemed like a link between us and Civili-
zation. I felt 'strong to go,' as our Natives would express it,
for I realized as I never before had done the ' Lo, I am with
you,' and some of God's dear ones with whom we had had such
precious Christian fellowship were with us till the last. . . .
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 295
" We had finished up at Fotuna soon after breakfast ; and
how intensely delighted we were to hear the Captain's cheery
voice shouting out that we would be able to have a drink of
milk at Aniwa to-morrow morning, as the wind was fair. We
had all packed up in the afternoon, and the first sight which
greeted me, on looking out at my port-hole next morning, was
the trees and rocks of dear old Aniwa ! The first boat was
sent ashore with eight or nine Fotunese and their cumbrous
baggage, who had insisted on coming to visit our Island, rather
to the disgust of the Captain. Meantime we were having our
breakfast, and Mr. Arthur, the mate, brought back word that
our Natives were in a- state of great delight and excitement, —
dear Yawaci making the younger girls fly round their work, —
also that our six cows had increased to ten, and that our goats
no man could number ! He had also heard that a number
of our Natives had died, and some had been taken away by
Traders.
"When we neared the shore, we could see that the great
majority of the people had turned out, and even the very cattle
and goats been brought to meet us ! There were my girls,
standing in a group in bright pink dresses, sewed and shaped
by themselves, and turkey-red turbans, and in short, by one
and another of the Natives all the colours of the rainbow were
well represented. Not one person, I am thankful to say, was
without clothing. True, some of their garments were ragged
and scanty enough,— still they had them, and it was almost
more than we expected from some of them, after being away
from them so long. They do so love to run naked !
" What a shaking of hands, and ' Alofa '-ing there was ! Two
or three little groups were sitting apart sobbing for their dead ;
indeed, they firmly believed that if we had been on the Island
to attend to them they would not have died. When we reached
the house, everything looked beautiful and the ground so well
kept, new coral on the walks, a fine new mat on the dining-
room floor and another on the lobby, and last, but not least in
the estimation of weary sea-voyagers, — a great jug of new goat's
milk ! When Dr. Steele and Mr. Robertson made playful
speeches about our Home-coming before drinking it, I could
«q6 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
most truly say, even after all the enjoyment and kindness of
the Colonies and delightful Christian fellowship with kindred
spirits there, — ' Home, sweet Home, no place like Home.' . . .
"Amidst all my hurry, however, I had five minutes alone
by my little Lena's grave. The beautiful white coral was
blackened, but the grass and shrubs had grown, and the lemon
branches with their bright fruit were bending over and shading
it beautifully. How naturally one looks up to the blue sky
above, and wonders where the spirit is, or if she can see the
mourning hearts below. She would have been running on her
own little feet now, had she been on Earth ; but though my
heart aches for her still, I would not have it otherwise, for she
was not sent in vain, and oh, what a little teacher she has been !
When John took Dr. Steele to see the grave, he said, — ' You have
thus taken possession ' ; and I felt we had taken possession of
more through her than that little spot of ground on Aniwa. . . .
"Our visitors and Vessel left us in the afternoon, and on
my return from seeing them off (John was too exhausted to
go), I met a very nice man, one of the Church members, who
stopped me and said, — ' Missi, I've given my boy up to you
and Missi the man, and you're to feed and clothe and teach
him, as you do the other children.' I could hardly believe my
ears, and you would need to know how boys are prized here to
appreciate as we did the sacrifice made, — at least as John did,
for I must confess that the thought of their bodily sustenance
comes between me and the fervent thanksgiving of my earnest
little man for ' another soul being added to our care ! ' We've
got ten of these souls, with bodies attached, at the present
time, besides several outsiders who come during the day, and
it taxes all my ingenuity to keep them in work and ' Kai-Kai,'
—their capacity for the latter being of no mean order. Their
clotnes are no concern beyond the making of them, and that
they soon learn to do for themselves ; for we have always been
abundantly supplied from kind Mission friends. . . . Although
I do sometimes think how nice it would be to be in Civilization
with a small house of our own and with the care of only one
or two servants at most, yet we are more than re-paid for all
our love to these dear Darkies. They are just like our very
LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 297
children, and such we always call them, and they are so con-
fiding and loving with us and tell us everything, especially the
elder girls, who have lived with us now for more than five
years.
" By the way, we have just had an affaire de cceur amongst
them, and as Hutshi is the young lady, you will be interested to
hear. You know she was given away, when an infant, by her
parents, to Nelwang, another infant about the same age, but
who is now one of the best and most intelligent boys on the
Island,— the only drawback being that his limbs are rather
diseased, and he is so fearfully timid that he won't let John
apply anything to cure them. Well, when we were in Sydney,
a middle-aged man, a returned labourer, whose betrothed wife
is yet a baby, came trying to curry favour with Hutshi's guar-
dians (her parents are dead long ago) by bringing them large
presents, and finally got them talked over to give him Hutshi
when she returned with us, — so it was settled, only awaiting
her and our consent. Now, her guardian has always been most
honourable with us. He gave up Hutshi to us, when she was
of the greatest use in his village (but I took care to let her go
and help them pretty often), and when we asked if she might
go with us to the Colonies, he and his wife said, — ' She is
more your child than ours, Missi ; do as you like.' So, when
they explained matters to John one evening in the study, and
said that both Hutshi and Nelwang were agreeable to the
change, he felt he could not interfere much, but warned them
not to be too rash and to ask God about it.
" Hutshi, the mischief, flirted with her new admirer when
she could get a chance, and I felt it would be a great relief to
have her married ; but we could see, from Nelwang's looks
(he is one of our boys), that there was a pain at his heart. I
set him a piece of work in the dining-room one day, and, sitting
down to help him, got all his confidence. The poor boy's heart
was breaking, and he wound up by saying, — ' I can't tell them
my heart, Missi, for they would but laugh, and I am only one ;
but if my father had been alive, they would not have dared
to give Hutshi away before my eyes.' Seeing his lady-love,
however, who at that moment came in at the open window and
298 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
evidently comprehended matters, he tossed his head proudly
and said, — • It's very good that she takes him ! '
" John and I espoused Nelwang's cause from that rrxment,
and he soon found an opportunity for saying a word on his
behalf. I also got Hutshi alone, and told her what Nelwang
had said. She replied that she did not know what to do, as
they were all urging her to take Sarra (the new lover) ; but she
said, — ' I would cry more to give up Nelwang than that old
fellow ! »
" She came to me the other day, and said she had finally
made up her mind to keep by Nelwang. I answered, — ' But I
thought, Hutshi, you seemed for the while to prefer the other.'
1 Yes, Missi,' she replied, ' when everybody was praising him
and telling me to take him, I thought it would be nice ; but
Nelwang and I have had a talk. We told each other what our
dead parents said about our being married when we were big,
and then we both cried, and we are going to be true to each
other ! ' So, you see, there is sentiment in blacks as well as
whites ! . . .
" Here I am at the end of my fourth sheet, and have not even
begun to tell you of the nice Ladies' Meeting we had at Aniwa,
or the lively time we have had with visitors ever since the
Vessel returned with the Missionaries on board for the annual
Synod. . . .
" That was a refreshing visit on the return of the Vessel from
the Synod ; and we had a cheery houseful, for in addition to
our four husbands, whom as canny Scots say, ' we were not
sorry7 to see after a three weeks' absence, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis
and Dr. Steele (the latter to remain with us) came and stayed
from the Saturday till the Monday, — the vessel going out to sea
with the rest of the Missionaries, who declared it would kill me
outright to have any more ! Those who came tried to make
me promise just to give them a pillow and a blanket on the
floor, but we got them snugly stowed away in beds and on sofas,
and we so enjoyed their society. It is especially delightful to
hear their voices mingling in the Psalm at Family Worship.
It makes one think of the great company of the redeemed,
singing the ' New Song.'
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 299
" The Sabbath was such a blessed day too, and it was quite
an event in the Church history of Aniwa to see six Missionaries
on the platform, and five ladies in the Missionary's pew. Mr.
Inglis preached at the first service, Mr. Annand at the second
(John of course translating), good Gospel truth ; and Dr. Steele
gave us a white sermon in the evening in the drawing-room,
upon the ' Prayer of Jabez.' The language was very beautiful,
and the Doctor suited himself to his audience, — leaving out his
appeal to unconverted Sinners / . . .
" Every one in the house is asleep, and my eyes will hardlj
keep open ; so I must say Good-night to you all, with heart's
love from your ever-loving daughter and sister,
" Maggie Whitecross Paton."
(I87S0
TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
"My dearest Sisters and Brothers, —
" If I could only put one of the Earthquakes we've had
into this journal it would produce a sensation,— descriptions
seem so very tame after one has experienced the awful feelings
they produce ! But I must begin and go forward as best I can,
there being no possibility of gratifying you in that direction.
" You know, it was not till very near the time of the Vessel's
sailing that we decided last year to remain ; and I sent my last
'Journal' on board with an aching heart. We had been so
nearly going to see our precious boys, and till I saw the Day-
spring slowly disappear in the distance I did not know how
intensely my heart had been set upon seeing them ! . . .
"To crown all, John got very ill, and sunk so low we feared
he might not live to see the return of the Dayspring. But all
the time I had an inward conviction that God had not kept him
on Aniwa just to die, after giving us such encouragement to
remain, and we had waited so confidingly upon Him just to show
us the way. And He did not keep us long in suspense, for one
event transpired after another to show how wisely we had been
guided.
3oo LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
" The first of these happened about a month aiter the vessel
left, and as John was slowly recovering from his illness. We
heard, one lovely day, as I was setting the copies for afternoon
School (I managed to keep it going all the time), a cry o<
' Sail O ! ' which set us all into a fine pitch of excitement.
School was the last thing to be thought of, and the Natives
scampered off towards the other end of the Island, where the
vessel lay. John was unable to walk so far ; but you may be
sure we were quite on the qui vive for news, and I waylaid the
first returning Native, who shouted to me in Aniwan, 'Missi,
what do you think has happened ? A whole shipload of
Tannese, men, women, and children, have been driven off their
own Island by war, and have come over to live on this little
Island, because the Worship is strong, and they know they are
safe. They are many in number for the people of Aniwa ; and
where are we to get food for them, Missi ? for they had to es-
cape at night with what little baggage they could bring in the
vessel.'
"Another Native soon arrived with letters from Mr. and Mrs.
Neilson, confirming the report, and we were rather dumbfounded
at this turn of events ; but, like most of the other Missionaries,
when they heard of it, we were also deeply impressed with
God's mysterious ways. Tanna was the Island upon which
John's whole heart was set ; and it was one of the bitterest dis-
appointments of his life when the Mission Synod would not
allow him to return there, instead of coming to Aniwa nine
years ago ; but we both felt we were following God here, and
now He had brought the Tannese to Aniwa; for those who had
come were from around Port Resolution, and some of them
were John's old friends !
"Some of the Islanders themselves were as much struck with
the event as we were. And at last Mission Synod, Mr. Neilson
amused all the Missionaries by giving the outline of a speech
made upon the occasion by one of the Aneityumese Teachers
on Tanna, apt as all Natives are in drawing illustrations from
daily life to point their addresses on Sabbath. He took the
story of Joseph for his subject, and made out 'Missi Paton' to
be Joseph driven from Tanna by his wicked brethren the Tanna
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 301
men, but that God had gone with him to Egypt, alias Aniwa,
and prospered him and the land for his sake, and prepared it
for them to go and live upon, and thus save much people
alive ! . . .
" John immediately set to work revising his Tannese, which
he had well-nigh forgotten, so that when the Tanna gentry
declined to come to Church he was soon able to go to them
and first read his addresses and then preach to them in Tan-
nese. How it did remind us of the early Aniwan days, when
our worthy parishioners used to enjoy a pipe or a nap, as they
lay on their backs listening to the sermon ! . . .
"The Hurricane began in earnest about noon on January
14th, after a heavy thunderstorm which had blackened the air
all the morning. As we sat at dinner the wind suddenly became
furious ; we had to jump up and make preparations, as the
house was shaking and creaking, the thatch standing on end,
and the rain pouring in. Immediately trees, fences, etc., began
to occupy a horizontal position ; so the children and I took
refuge in the Study, which seemed to stand firmer than the rest
of the house, and from the windows watched the progress of the
storm, — a magnificent sight, tall trees bending and falling before
the awful force of the wind. John came in greatly dejected,
saying that if it continued much longer the Church would go,
as it was already bending, notwithstanding its being so strongly
propped. There was a lull just then in the storm, which cheered
me ; but his more experienced eye led him to pronounce it the
stillness that precedes a great storm, it was still so black and
ominous. And sure enough, just before dark, a terrific blast
sent us flying down to the Cellar, our usual place cf refuge.
" John and a couple of the girls made a final attempt to get
into the house for one or two loaves, and whatever else they
could grab, — we were now awfully hungry, having been so un-
ceremoniously interrupted at our dinner. My faithful little
cook was precipitated into the Cellar before a great blast,
puffing and panting and holding on to a kettle of boiling water,
which was an unexpected luxury in the circumstances. So we
managed to make a very jolly meal off the top of a box ; and
all our stores being in the Cellar, we got hold of a tin of salmon.
302 LETTERS FROM ANIWA,
— the girls had thoughtfully brought a great basin of milk foi
the children, — and when F. found we were all to eat the
salmon out of one plate, his joy knew no bounds, and he stuck
his fork into the biggest bit in the dish, which proved too large
for his wee mouth, causing great merriment !
" The storm raged till midnight, when we were all thankful to
get up to our beds, and found our own room, fortunately, the
only habitable part of the house. But oh, what utter desolation
the morning light revealed ! Our fine large Church a mass of
ruins, with one great pillar standing solitary and upright through
the rubbish against the clear blue sky. The School House in
the same condition, at the other side of the Itnrai (= public
meeting ground). With the exception of our cook-house and
printing-office, not an outhouse was left standing on the Mission
Premises ; but oh, how thankful we felt that our dwelling-house
stood secure, as John was in no condition to have attempted
building another. Not even a pane of glass was broken, though
of course the roof could not escape, and consequently everything
was soaked. The day proved fortunately very hot, and we got
all the mats lifted, and mattresses, blankets, etc., washed and
dried. The pigs were in their glory, running riot over all the
plantations, and I am sure if they could have spoken they
would have said in Scotch, ' It's an ill wind that blaws naebody
guid ! '
"Almost every Native on the Island was at work before day-
light at his fences ; dwelling-houses — and there were not a dozen
standing uninjured on the Island — being left till the plantations
were secured. School duties were not even thought of. It was
so sad to see the destruction of food, — fine large breadfruit and
cocoa-nut trees torn up by the roots, and bananas with the fruit
half formed lying useless on the ground. But the greatest
lamentation seemed to be about the Ta/ari Mori { = House ol
Worship), though the general Public were complacently viewing
it as a judgment from ' Teapolo' ( = His Satanic Majesty, in
Aniwan), for their being ' so strong for the Worship.' This is a
popular error ; and John guarded them against it next Sabbath,
preaching an impressive sermon from the text, ' Labour not for
the meat which perisheth] — rather apropos to the occasion! . . -
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 303
" It was altogether a sad time, that, for we had been so tried
with Hutshi, the girl I had last time with us in Australia, and
who turned out a complete vixen; the first of my girls, I am
thankful to say, who has not turned out well. She was married
to one of our best young lads, and went quite gracefully through
the whole affair — I think I wrote you all about it before — but
all the while she was dying for my handsome young cook, who
is engaged to the little table-maid. She began, soon after the
marriage, to persecute her husband and flirt with the other,
going from bad to worse, notwithstanding all we could say to
her ; and one day she behaved so frightfully, that, when we
were told of her guilt, John and I sank down on the nearest
seats, perfectly overpowered with disappointment and horror.
I could hardly have believed that any woman, either black or
white, could have so deliberately planned to lead others so
young and innocent into sin.
" The young Chief came to ask John how she ought to be
punished, as something would have to be done ; but he hesi-
tated to give advice, never having been called upon to legislate
in a similar case, being indeed too vexed to collect his thoughts ;
only he strongly forbade them to shoot her, as one or two of the
enraged fathers proposed, and advised them to be guided by
the Aneityumese Teachers, two wise Christian men from Mr.
Inglis's Station. They said that the punishment inflicted on
Aneityum by the Chiefs was to tie up the guilty parties, collect
all the goods of those most deeply involved, and distribute them
among the people at the other side of the Island, so as not to
tempt those around to bring false accusations against neigh-
bours for the sake of their property.
" This was accordingly done in the case of Hutshi ; and we
had an invitation to be present at the ceremony, which we
declined, as John told them it was better he should not be too
much mixed up in these things. The only way in which he did
interfere was to shorten the time to three hours, instead of the
twenty-four they were determined to keep her tied, and which,
in my opinion, she richly deserved ! Two or three Tannese
happened to arrive at her village before she was unloosed, and
expressed their disgust at the consequences entailed by the
304 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
Worship, saying they could have as much ' fun ' on Tanna as
they liked without being punished for it. But one of our
Aniwans answered, with a sly wink at his neighbours, that bad
as the Worship might be, it had at least not driven them from
their own land ! . . .
" I wish I could say that was the last of the trouble we had
with Mistress Hutshi ; for she professed great repentance, and
sent one of the girls, two or three weeks afterwards, to say she
wanted to tell me all her badness, as that would make her feel
better. She had not been allowed to come near the Mission
Premises, nor had we since taken any notice of her. We had
very little faith in the young lady's repentance, but feared to
crush any yearning after amendment, if it did exist ; and I
thought that God might give me a word for her. So we had a
long interview ; but I felt all the time there was no change in
her, as was immediately proved, for she went back tossing her
head and telling the others they might talk as much as they
liked, she didn't care, for the Missi was quite satisfied with
her now !
" She did not improve, but the Church members round kept
such a watch upon her that she did not do anything very flag-
rant She did, however, lead her husband a miserable life ;
and I never believed that a Native could have borne with
patience what he did ; at last, being able to stand it no longer,
he came to bid us Good-bye, saying he was going to live about
three miles distant (it was as far away almost as he could get
on Aniwa, either in one direction or the other, as his lady-love
lived close to us in the centre of the Island !) and that he freely
bestowed her upon any man who might be fool enough to take
her, as henceforth he would have nothing to do with her.
She had, out of pure bravado, professed to elude their
vigilance and implicated a Tanna man, as well as Rangi (the
wildest man on Aniwa), who both proved their innocence.
Perhaps Rangi agreed with me that he had enough sins of his
own to account for without being blamed for what he really did
not do ; and being an out and out Savage in his disposition, we
feared trouble when he came wiih all the Tanna men at his
heels to inquire about it one morning after her husband had
LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 305
left her. We little expected, however, the scene there really
was enacted, right outside our gate too, for it was there Rangi
caught hold of her. She gave one spring to John for protec-
tion, but the gate was between them, and Rangi wrenched her
from it, and the savage yells that got up nearly sent me frantic
with terror.
" John stood leaning carelessly against the gate, viewing it
all — the calmest person there ! He felt that his presence would
be a sufficient check, though it would have been folly to inter-
fere. My girls were groaning and crying ; and Yawaci (the girl
I have here) was unconsciously doing her best to wrench the
handles off the dining-room door in her despair, groaning out,
" Missi, blood will be spilt ! ' while I was on my knees in the
middle of the floor calling upon God to interfere. But my little
F. stopped me, saying, " Mamma, Mamma, I don't like to see
you look up and talk like that ! Are you ill ? ' So I tried to be
myself again to the wee man, and felt comforted in having left
the case with the Lord. Only I must see Rangi, though I had
very slender hope of influencing him ; and I put my careful
husband into a fine consternation, as he would rather have seen
an apparition than me coming on such a scene. I had only a
very dim notion, then, of his gestures and entreaties, being deaf
and blind to everything except Rangi, who came nearest my
idea of a demon of anything I had ever seen !
" The poor girl was tied, with her arms backward, to a cocoa-
nut tree, pale with terror, and a hundred muskets bristling
round her. The Tannese were in full Heathen costume, which
means paint instead of clothing ; and the Church members
stood calmly, like John, looking on, except two or three of them,
who kept guard around her with loaded muskets for her defence
from murder, if necessary. Her life was all they or we wished
to see spared, for she richly deserved any punishment short of
death. I caught Rangi's eye at last. At a sign he came quietly
forward, and I began to tell him he should not dare to shoot
my girl, but being too excited I ended in sobs and was marched
off, — but not before Rangi earnestly assured me that he would
not touch a hair of her head, or let any one else do it, only, he
said, she deserved to be tied and ought to be well beaten for
20
3o6 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
blackening his character ! We could not keep from smiling,
even in the excitement, at Rangi's care for his reputation, which
was truly as black as it well could be.
" Well, here was mistress Hutshi practically put up for public
sale ; for, according to Native law, whoever dared to unloose her
from that tree had to take her for his wife, her husband having
renounced all claim to her. Rangi reminded them of this when
he tied her up, saying that the Missi only could alter that law
if he wished. The Missi did not feel inclined to do any such
thing, having devoutly wished her at Jericho ever since she
commenced her pranks, as she was proving a curse to the place,
and now only hoped that the most tyrannical unmarried man
on the Island would take her off bodily as far away as the
limited circumference of Aniwa would permit (so did the Church
members) ; but for John to say so would only be the beginning
of mischief. He was so anxious they would not appeal to him
for advice, for we both felt that for her Native law was the best.
But though a score of young men would have gone down on
their knees for her before she was married, there she stood for
about three hours without a single bidder !
"John had got the whole crowd dispersed to go and cut wood
for the lime pits (you know he is of a rather practical turn of
mind and likes to utilize the most unlikely occasions), which they
did with great energy, having the steam up ; so she was left
alone, as the women had all to run and cook food. I had a
grand donation for the labourers besides the tea, that day, as we
had a calf killed the evening before, and I was giving orders
about it when I saw John waving me to the study with such an
amused face. It seems that Hutshi's old sweetheart had
rushed to him in eager haste, saying, ' Missi, I never will have
such a chance for a wife 1 Will you marry me to Hutshi, if I
untie her?' John said he centainly could not, and that if he
took her it must be d la Native, and that he would have to dis-
continue his attendance at the Candidates' Class, of which he
was a member. He explained, at the same time, that it was
not like running away with another man's wife, as her behaviour
(which in Britain would have divorced her) had led her husband
to give her up ; only that, for the sake of example, he could not
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 307
countenance such proceedings on the part of intending Com-
municants. Sarra said, in that case he would have nothing to
do with her. But, alas, female influence prevailed, and he un-
loosed her an hour or two after, amid the Hurrahs of the passers-
by and our intense though secret delight ; for though Sarra is
obliged to confess he has ' caught a Tartar,' yet he manages to
keep her in tolerable check, being a determined fellow.
" We heartily re-echoed the sentiments of one of our Church
members, when speaking of Hutshi, viz., ' that it was awful
what a woman could do, when she was bent upon mischief ! '
Indeed, according to the Natives, we have her, along with the
two murderers, to thank for those awful Earthquakes which
nearly frightened us out of our senses, though on Aniwa very
little damage accrued from them.
" The first, at least the first to speak of, occurred near mid-
night on the 28th March (the second anniversary of our Lena's
birth), and woke us up with a vengeance, being the worst we
ever had, the Earth heaving so awfully that we expected every
moment to be swallowed up, and were almost paralyzed with
terror, but M. and F. slept through it all. After it, a tremendous
rush of the sea seemed to take place, from the noise it made,
and which we found next morning was the case, carrying our
boat from where it lay, high and dry about one hundred yards
inland, also canoes, two of which were smashed.
" I lay in awful terror after the Earthquake till three o'clock,
and was dropping off to sleep, when another terrible one sent
us flying out of the house in our night gowns, John dragging
the children out of their beds, and the girls rushing out of their
house. There was not a breath of wind, and it was awful to
see in the bright moonlight the great trunks of the trees swaying
back and forward, and to feel the ground going to and fro with
such force. We had one or two slight ones after that, and then
just at daybreak an awful repetition, — every one of us simultane-
ously rushing out of doors ! This was number five; and before
breakfast we went to see the damage done to the boat (but it
was uninjured) ; and we had two more violent shocks ere we
got home, making seven in all before breakfast, after which we
had a commotion of another kind.
308 LETTERS FROM AtflWA.
"John felt so exhausted, and had just got fast asleep on the
study sofa (a most unusual occurrence with him), when I heard
high words between Taia, one of our Church members, and
Nalihl, an Erromangan. I knew not what to do, for Natives
never waste time on high words — they at once rush to arms ;
and I was unwilling to wake John to more excitement, as it was
exactly that day two years since he had been seized with that
awful fever, and I had been in fear of its return, as people pre-
dicted it would, about the same time of the year. Well, I"
actually made up my mind to show my wifely devotion,— and it
was a good test for me, I beg leave to say, I always had such
a foolish terror of a loaded musket anywhere, and infinitely
more so in the hands of an enraged Savage,— by going between
the combatants myself. To make matters worse, all the men
about had gone that morning to bring lime-coral, and only a
few women had collected, and one or two timid fellows who
stood at a safe distance.
" Nalihi was flourishing his musket in Taia's face, as an
accompaniment to an eloquent harangue he was delivering in
Erromangan, not being able to speak Aniwan ; and Taia, who
understood and could speak it perfectly, seemed to be paying
him back with interest. They subsided for a few moments,
when it was whispered the Missi was there ; but on finding that
it was only the ' Missi fine,' they went at it with renewed vigour.
I took no notice of the Erromangan, knowing my only chance
was with Taia ; so I went over to him, and implored him not
to utter another word, whatever provocation he might receive ;
and though reluctant at first, he behaved nobly and stood what
I think few white men would have done in the circumstances.
I kept close beside him all the time, and though for three
quarters of an hour that villain stood heaping insults upon him,
and at last, in his rage, cut down his bananas and fences before
his eyes, he never spoke, though his muscles twitched and he
clutched at his great club sometimes — one that I knew had
done good (?) service in Heathen days under the great brawny
arms that wielded it ; for Taia is a perfect Hercules, and such a
contrast to the little treacherous, sharp-nosed Erromangan, who
was dying for an excuse to get a shot at him. When I thought
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 309
Taia was going to give way, I put my cold white paw (it did
feel so cold) on his black arm, and every time I did so he turned
and looked down at me with a grim smile, saying, ' Don't fear,
Missi, I'll not speak.'
" Now I maintain, that though John sometimes fears Taia's
•Christianity is not of the highest type, yet he is undoubtedly a
perfect gentleman, or he would not have stood there, the greatest
living orator on Aniwa, silent at the bidding of any woman !
When I saw the good food being destroyed and so little left
from the Hurricane, indignation mastered every other feeling,
and I felt it was high time for John to interfere with Nalihi ; as
no one else dared to speak to him, except master F., who had,
by the way, found us out just then, and proceeded without
hesitation to deal with him in plain terms. His little figure
heaved with indignation, and he drew such a long breath before
calling out, ' O you naughty, naughty man I You're a wicked
man ! Jehovah, so angry at you ! ' Every one was so amused,
and a general titter went round, while Nalihi, with whom F.
had been a favourite, began vigorously to defend himself to the
child in broken Eglish, at the same time wielding his axe to
some purpose amongst Taia's bananas. So, feeling my own
strength would not hold out much longer, I sped off and brought
John, who quietly went up to Nalihi and relieved him of his
musket and axe (Oh, I was glad to see that musket in dear old
John's trusty fingers, for Nalihi held it in a horizontal position,
and it always would point at me the whole time I stood there !)
clapped him on the shoulder and had him sobbing like a child
in a minute and offering payment to Taia for the damage done,
which, however, Taia was too seriously offended to receive, and
I do not wonder at it.
" The crowd began to disperse, and John was taking Nalihi
off for a day's work under his own eye, in case of his coming in
contact with Taia again, when I put a graceful finish to the
proceedings by going off into a fainting fit under the cocoa-nut
trees 1 John said I managed bravely, all except that ; but I do
think that after seven Earthquakes and such a scene, I had a
good right to get up some demonstration, and it was the first I
ever perpetrated for the public benefit I
3I0 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
"We had three more Earthquakes that day, but slight, making
ten in all ; and I took care at night to provide for emergencies
by putting a supply of blankets on the verandah, as there is not
a moment to snatch clothes when they come, and we had felt
chilly the night before. I got laughed at for what was termed
my needless precaution ; but we had hardly got into our first
sleep, when another violent Earthquake turned us out, and we
were thankful for them. It was not so bad as some, however,
and we got a sleep till morning without further disturbance, as
the grand performance did not come off till next evening at
nine o'clock.
"John was busy in the bath-room, with the girls, damping
paper for next day's printing, I was in the dining-room, jotting
in my journal the events of the day, when we all had to rush
out with the most frightful Earthquake that had yet taken place.
The house danced, the windows rattled awfully, and F. woke
up with the first of it screaming in terror, but M. took it more
gently, telling him it was nice. It might have been nice to feel
ourselves rocked on the bosom of mother Earth (we lay down
on the ground at a safe distance from the house, which we
expected to fall every moment), could we have been sure she
would not open up and receive us into a closer embrace !
" The heaving must, I think, have continued nearly five
minutes, and we had just got into the house again, still trembling
with agitation, when a terrible gust of wind and roar of the sea
half prepared us for the shouting of the Natives, who called to
us that the sea had actually come close to our gate ! We went
out and found Natives up to the waist in water, where it had
been bush two or three minutes before. We heard something
flapping, and Yawaci picked up a large fish about twelve feet
from our gate ; and as the tidal wave receded, they were left
in hundreds, which the Natives spent most of that night and
next day in gathering. An enormous turtle was found too among
a lot of dibris, — ' Jehovah's turtle,' the Natives called it, owing
to the way in which it was found.
" No serious accident occurred from the wave on our Island,
as in most of the others, though some Natives fishing at Tiara
were nearly carried away, and our boat which lay at anchor
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 311
there was lifted, anchor and all, and carried a long way inland,
bu: to a sandy place, where it got no damage ; yet not a canoe,
if I remember rightly, was left whole.
" From that time we had a constant succession of Earthquakes,
and were kept in continual dread, though none of them so
violent as those I have mentioned. We had to sleep with our
doors open, and at last John went to bed in his clothes to be
ready to run ! I suppose you have heard that the tidal wave
swept right through Mr. Inglis's, doing terrible damage and
half drowning them, and the Earthquakes kept knocking down
his walls and chimneys as fast as he could rebuild them. Dr.
Geddie's fine Church, too, is all but destroyed. But I think the
greatest damage done is to the nerves of the poor Missionaries'
wives (the Missionaries themselves would be indignant if you
accused them of having any !) It is such an awful sensation to
eel the very Earth trembling and heaving beneath one, and
such an eerie feeling comes on at night.
. . . " I must pass over everything else that happened
until we turned up in Civilization, and it is close upon Mail time.
I would have liked to tell you about our pretty new Church,
with its snow white walls, which was finished just before our
beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, paid us their farewell visit,
which was like to break our hearts, for they have been a father
and mother to us and to the Mission. Our parting too with our
Darkies was intensely trying, as we are to be away from them
a longer visit than the last ; but the society of our dear friends,
the Murrays, was an unexpected treat, and made the voyage so
pleasant notwithstanding the sea-sickness. . . .
"The Home Mail closes in the morning ; and I must close,
with fervent love, from your loving sister,
" Maggie Whitecross Paton."
3*2 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
(1878.)
TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
4 My dearest Sisters and Brothers,—
"Sons and datighter, I should almost have added, as the
biggest half of our little flock are separated from Aniwa, and
will as eagerly look for the 'family billet 'now as the rest of
you. . . .
" Now that I have sat down to write, so much comes crowd-
ing upon me that I hardly know where to begin ; but I cannot
put down a word of news before testifying of the Lord's good-
ness to us, which has just been vouchsafed during this last hot
season. He has encompassed us round as with a shield and
preserved us safe and well, though from the day after the Day-
spring left for the Colonies on the 14th November last until the
30th March we have lived in daily — I might almost say hourly
— terror of our lives. We have seen — especially John has— the
rage of the Heathen, and passed through Earthquake and Hur-
ricane ; but all seems as nothing compared with coming into
constant contact with an unrestrained madman, and this we
have had to do with poor Mungaw. . . .
"You must not think of us as pining in solitude, however.
Indeed, poor Mungaw took care to keep us all in lively exercise,
and acted his first scene the day after the Dayspring left for
Sydney with our mails. You know that he married Litsi, one
of my best girls (and how delighted we were at the time that
she was getting such a good young man !), who was with me on
my first visit to Australia from Aniwa, and you remember how
pleased you all were with her. Well, he spent the night beating
that gentle girl (who was near her confinement) and their little
boy about two years of age ; and when John met him in the
Imrai and quietly remonstrated with him, he stalked off in high
dudgeon ; and in two minutes more, a tremendous crackling
and roar of fire made us rush to the window, where we saw his
nice house and all that was in it one mass of flame. Not con-
tent with setting it on fire, he tore off Litsi's jacket and flung it
in too- We quite expected that our own house would go, as
LETTERS FROM ANlWA. 313
there were only two light fences betwixt some of our outhouses
and his, but providentially the wind carried everything the
other way.
" He then took Litsi and Nomaki, their little boy, to a distant
village ; and, oh ! how we hoped he would remain, as Litsi had
friends there, but back he dragged them, terror-stricken and
breathless from having to keep pace with his tremendous
strides. I sent Litsi an old jacket (she begged me not to send
a good one, as it might go the same way), and a blanket to
sleep or rather to roll herself in — for there was no sleep for any
one near that night. He had threatened to murder some of the
villagers, and was stalking round and round our Premises with
his loaded musket ; but an Aneityumese Teacher kept watch
over our house all the night.
"It so happened that next day had been appointed for a
' Members' Meeting.' These meetings are held monthly, for
John to appoint them their work, and change it from one to
another, so that it might not always devolve upon a few. You
know there is no paid door-keeper, or paid service of any kind
connected with the Church, so the women take it in turns, two
by two, every Saturday morning, to clean the Church and
enclosure. One man is appointed bell-ringer, another to take
off and on the pulpit coverings and carry in the Bible, etc., two
to stand at the doors and see there are no loiterers outside, and
so forth. Cases of sickness or wickedness are also reported,
and Church matters generally talked over. At this meeting one
woman was scored off for absconding from her legal husband
and living with another ; and Mungaw, who came in with the
greatest blandness, as if nothing had happened, got a thorough
' talking to,' and was suspended till it should be proved whether
he was more rogue or fool — for at that time we could scarcely
tell. That he had become decidedly cracked and his mind to a
certain extent unhinged, no one who saw and heard him could
doubt— especially knowing what a dear good fellow he was
before ; still he seemed sane enough at times ; and when he did
break out, it was more like being possessed with evil spirits.
All his madness took the form of wickedness, and when he saw
people afraid of him he was the more emboldened. It was very
314 LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
difficult to know how to treat him. He was rather cowed at
the meeting, though, and kept pretty quiet till the full moon,
while meantime we had peace to get all our machinery into
working order again. . . .
"John has had great comfort with his big boys, however,
especially the one we were most averse to take in, — a great
ugly-looking fellow of about eighteen, couldn't speak without a
growl, and scowled at everybody from under his black wool,
which hung down over his eyebrows. To crown all, he had
been with the slavers— and that is no recommendation !
" After keeping with our boys a day or two and coming to
evening class, on the third evening he sent in for a blanket, as
he was ' going to stay.' We looked aghast. John was for re-
ceiving him ; but I was at the crying point, and declared I
could not feed more Natives or make food go further than other
people. John said, 'Then am I to send him away?' Well,
no ! I was hardly prepared to do that either ; so, after talking
over it a few minutes, we felt sure the Lord had sent him ; and
though I did not feel particularly grateful at the time, I have
often thanked Him since. We went to the blanket box, got a
nice warm blanket (the Natives feel chilly at night), called him
in, and John had a talk with him about certain rules, after
which he took his gift with a very pleasant grin. He looked
like a different creature with his hair cut ; and a more faithful,
helpful, warm-hearted Native lad we never had. In times of
danger from Mungaw, he stuck by John like his shadow — no
ostentation with it, but quietly getting some pretext for keeping
close to him when there was any fear. A capital worker too —
for John does not approve of keeping his boys idle, and they
help him with whatever he is at, fencing, roofing, gardening,
house-building, etc
" One day he and another big boy (a great wag — keeps the
others in roars of laughter, and himself the picture of solemnity)
had been planing wood very nicely, and John praised them,
calling them his 'Carpenter' and 'Joiner.' In the afternoon a
slate full of writing was sent in, informing us that they wished
from henceforth to drop their old names and be called ' Car-
penter' and 'Joiner.' Nor would they answer to any other
LETTERS FROM ANJWA. 3*5
We often iorgot, at first, but were reminded by their paying not
the slightest attention, till we came out with the new name-
when they would instantly wheel round with a smile and be at
our service ! . . .
" One day, before John was quite recovered, Mungaw put a
lot of impudence on his copy for my special benefit. I took no
notice— he looked so wild— but pointed out a mis-spelt word,
wrote a fresh line, and telling him to follow it closely passed
quickly on to the next writer. I told John, when I went in, I
was sure he would do some mischief ere long ; and just an
evening or two after, we heard him shouting and scolding from
his house in an awful voice. John limped off, in spite of my
entreaties to let them fight it out, and found Mungaw flourishing
an axe over a poor woman, whose husband was from home and
who had been helping Litsi to cook his fish, but had been un-
fortunate enough not to divine that on that particular evening
he wanted it wrapped in a different kind of leaf from what was
usual. He had brought the axe within a few inches of her
shoulder, when two or three Natives, attracted to the spot just
before John, stayed his arm and wrenched it from him. He
got his musket next, but poor Sibo and Litsi both ran to our
house for protection, while John and the Natives tried to calm
him down. They got his musket from him, and I saw a
Teacher slip it behind a tree in our lawn ; but Mungaw was
sharp enough to notice, and got it away again when the affray
was over, and ordered poor Litsi back to her cooking. Sibo
went to a distant village to be out of his way, declaring she was
half dead with fright ; and I would very much have liked to get
away from the Island altogether! John's spirit always rises
equal to the emergency, but I get perfectly faint with terror,
and the longer the worse. This was merely a little prelude,
however, to what followed.
" Next morning he had the audacity to appear at one of the
dining-room windows, as the girls were clearing away the
breakfast things ; and he demanded the keys from John, as he
wanted to sharpen his axe at the grindstone. John said, 'No,
Mungaw, you'll learn to put your axe to a better use first ; and
I want you to return the two you have of mine.' He looked the
316 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
picture of innocent wonder, and replied, 'What do you mean,
Missi?' John replied, ' I just mean that I want you to give up
your bad conduct.' ' My bad conduct! What have I done?'
protested Mungaw. John said pointedly, ' Do you not know,
Mungaw ?' That was all the provocation he got ; but he went
cff for his musket, muttering, 'I'll let you know who you're
talking to.'
"When he was gone, John went out to his Printing Office for
something, and on leaving it saw Mungaw just inside our fence
taking deliberate aim at him with his musket. John turned
round to lock the door, showing no signs of fear, but feeling
that all was over, and that he was to be shot down so near us
all and yet none near enough to save ; but God was watching !
The next instant he heard a rush of feet, a scuffle, and looked
round to see the musket pointed high in the air, and four strong
arms grappling with the intended murderer. Two men had
been accidentally (! ?) coming up the path, took in the scene at
a glance, and my husband was saved.
" I knew nothing of what was passing, but, feeling restless
after Mungaw's parting look, went out to hurry John in for
worship. I met him coming in, and stopped short at sight of
his pale face to ask if he were ill, and he told me all. We had
just begun to sing at worship, when he re-appeared flourishing
his musket, trying the doors and windows (you may believe I
had them securely fastened by this time), and demanding en-
trance. We went on, taking no notice, but the celestial quavet
was plentifully introduced into the music, ^nd the girls rushed
into the dining-room in great fear. Meanwhile the news had
spread like wildfire, and the Church members near came run-
ning to order him out of the Premises, which only made him
wilder; so they seized him, took him to the Imrai, and bound
him hand and foot with ropes. It was a terrible noise and
scuffle, for he had the strength of ten men, and yelled like a
demon.
" Two of his brothers so-called (not real ones) arriving on the
spot, he thought to get up some sympathy, changed his voice to
a whine, and bewailed his hard fate, — 'bound and persecuted
for doing nothing at all ! ' Litsi, gentle Litsi, took her boy in
LETTERS FROM \ANIWA. 317
her arms, and walked up to him before the crowd, sa/ing in a
loud voice, ' Look at the marks of your brutality on me and my
helpless child, and say whether you deserve to be tied or not !'
It was an imprudent speech for her to make, poor girl, for
which he did not forget to repay her. It was a terrible day for
us all — poor little F. white to the lips with fear, I lying in a
fainting state, and John walking up and down the room trying
to keep up our spirits, and wee J. — oh ! how we envied him —
running about, playing ' Peep-bo ' in happy unconsciousness of
all. The Church members feared that some of the wilder young
fellows, whom he had been favouring of late, would come to his
aid ; but when it was known he had attacked the Missi, not a
finger was lifted in his defence.
" They did not know what to do with him, now they had him
bo<md,— nothing in the shape of a prison or secure place on all
the Island ! They proposed our Cellar, but we didn't want him
quite so near as that ; so they let him off at the end of four
hours, and Litsi and little Nomaki took refuge with us.
Mungaw got a little boy to tell him where they hid his musket ;
and, once more possessed of it, he flew all round the Island till
towards sunset, when he divested himself entirely of his cloth-
ing, stuck on paint, and with musket shouldered walked sentry
before our front gate for more than an hour. He seemed to be
imitating the sentinels he had seen before Government House
in Melbourne— a slight difference in the circumstances ! But
it was thought necessary to have a counter-guard over our
Premises that night. The only good thing he did was to send
his gracious permission to Litsi to stay in our house for the
night, which she thankwilly accepted.
" Next morning (Sunday) he met her pleasantly, called her to
speak to him (our fence was between them), and threw a large
stone at her head, informing her that was the price of her
yesterday's speech. We bound up the deep wound and advised
her to lie quiet, but she preferred going to Church with us as
the safest plan, for he had been caught several times during the
night stealthily approaching our house to burn it, as they
thought. None of the villagers slept, two of their lives being
to danger. It was a most anxious Sabbath, and we had worship
3*8 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
under difficulties— guards being placed at our house and tha
principal approaches to the Church. Oh, how regretfully I
thought of the peaceful Sabbaths and quiet walks to Church ia
Melbourne, none making us afraid ! But we tried to realize
that the Lord Jesus was encompassing us around, and that He
stood between us and Mungaw. The people begged John to be
short, as they were in terror, so we had only one Service in
Church, and, instead of Sunday School, a prayer meeting on
the Imrai. Mungaw employed the time during Church service
in ransacking the villagers" boxes for ammunition, but they had
it hid away ; and at the prayer meeting he was reclining, with
folded arms, eyeing us from our back verandah! After the
prayer-meeting, John urged the different villagers to take it in
turns to sleep near Mungaw's house for the protection of Litsi
who was being killed by inches, and at last they agreed ; but as
soon as we were in the house, he went and patched up a sort of
peace — a sham to get the people away — and then abused the
people near for tying him, and dragged Litsi home. We were
half the night praying for the helpless girl, so completely at the
mercy of that madman.
" Next morning, he came into the Imrai in grand style —
musket in hand, of course — and scolded the people, working
himself up into a frenzy and keeping us all on the rack, for we
could see from one of the Study windows, — when, to our great
joy, ' Sail O ' rang out, and it was comical to see how quickly he
had to subside before this counter-excitement, and slink away !
We felt it was in answer to prayer, more especially when a little
afterwards he stood before our gate painted frightfully, and told
our herd-boys that he was going in the Vessel if she called here.
How earnestly we asked the Lord to let him go, if it were His
Will, but prayed above all for submission to bear what was
appointed us, for we had the feeling he would stay. Poor
fellow ! he drove us closer into the Saviour's arms than all
Dr. Somerville's meetings in Australia, for we had Him alone
to look to. Natives were kind, but not capable of giving much
help— they rather look to us for it — and poor things, we did
pity them, when it was known that he had bought a large stock
of ammunition, including balls, and that he stayed behind !
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 319
" It turned out to be the schooner Daphne for Fiji ; and the
Government agent sent half a sovereign in a note, begging for
opium, as he had seventy-five people on board, and one case of
' assured sickness.' John, of course, returned the money, but
sent opium pills, laudanum, and chlorodyne, having no opium.
We were glad of the opportunity of sending a few hurried
notes, bearing a month's later date than the Dayspring, which
left on the 14th November. This is the only other Vessel that
has called at our Island, since we returned, except the Day-
spring. . . .
" Christmas came next in order. The little stockings had
been duly filled the night before, as F. took care to have J.'s and
his hung up, with dim eyes at the thought of the other three
which had been filled the year before. It turned out to be a
bright day ; the bairns were jubilant over their gifts ; and there
was a general rejoicing over dear Litsi's re-appearance at the
Evening Class— her lord and master having gone out in a canoe
with some boys for a night's fishing by torch-light. Litsi's face
beamed at having an hour or two with us all, for Mungaw did
not allow her over her own fence, or any one to go near her ;
and, as all the women were frightened, his commands were
obeyed to the letter, except by us, and for her sake even I had
to go stealthily with food (he starved her), as he beat her when
he found it out. Our girls did not require two biddings to put
a plentiful supper before her, and were cheering her under
breath with the hope that his canoe might turn bottom up and
he get eaten with a shark, when the most unearthly yell from
the shore turned us all pale with terror, and ' Mungaw ! ' was
gasped from every lip. Litsi flew home, in terror lest he should
find her out. The villagers seized their muskets and ran to
protect their boys, and John and I to our knees in the Study.
But the whole turned out to be a hoax ! The boys' canoe had
upset among the reefs, and though they could swim like corks,
and were in no danger, it was their pleasure thus to exercise
their lungs while splashing about. . . .
" Mungaw made rather a sad New Year's Day for us, though.
While we were at breakfast, more people assembled in the
Imrai and high words ensued. John went out to them, deter-
320 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
mined to sift the matter to the bottom ; and at last it came out
that Mungaw had gone the day before to the village of Towleka,
and said that the people of Inahutshi were going to shoot them
on the morrow, and then he deliberately walked to Inahutshi
and told them the same thing about the people of Towleka.
He was bent upon war; wanted, in his own words, 'to see
blood run.' Burning houses, and he had burnt several, was
becoming rather tame work ; and he wanted something more
exciting. He boastfully acknowledged the part he had acted
the day before, declaring that if they had not said they were
going to fight they meant it, which was worse— better to have it
out and done with — why else were they carrying their muskets ?
This was a little too much for their patience, and they did lay
about him with their tongues, saying it was he and he alone who
had introduced this carrying of muskets, by flying about with his
own and threatening to kill everybody. He then said, that if
they were not going to fight they ought to come out boldly for
the Worship (he certainly did not approve of doing things by
halves), singling out by name those whom he knew to have
little differences with each other, and ordering them to shake
hands and exchange pigs there and then !
" When John thought they'd had enough of it, for Mungaw
was getting excited with his nonsense, he suggested that one of
them should engage in prayer and let them then get home. A
fine old Chief stood up under the banyan tree, and, waving his
hand with a majesty a Native can assume at times, offered a
simple, earnest prayer, and the people quietly dispersed. But
Mungaw tried hard to get them together again, and insisted
upon everybody being converted on the spot He kept on this
religious tack for about a fortnight, which was very pleasant, as
it allowed us to sit with open windows and doors, and get fresh
air and freedom.
" One day, when he was unusually gushing and had presented
a pig and food to the very men he had sought to murder, — his
speech indicating that the Millennial Reign was about to com-
mence on Aniwa under his auspices, — a Church member said,
' I think, Mungaw, the people will understand us better, if we
burn our muskets and show that we'll not fight, whatever they
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 32 *
may do ; here goes mine !' And suiting the action to the word,
he broke and flung his musket into the flames. Mungaw im-
mediately followed suit, with a grand flourish, to the intense
relief of all around, for he was a much less formidable person-
age without the musket, though he still fancied himself a great
king. He sent in for a black suit, and permission to conduct
the Worship next Sunday, which of course he did not get.
" John sent for him and had long talks with him ; but saw it
was little use, — he was so crazed, and thought every one in the
wrong but himself. His standing grievance against John
was — that he kept all the collections (!) taken at the close of
Mission addresses (he insisted they went into his private
pocket), and did not halve them with him, though he helped
him to speak.
" He never forgot the scenes he saw in that den of iniquity
to which some wretches took him in Melbourne, under pretence
of kindness, when John was unable from my sudden illness in
the country to take him home. It bamboozled his then simple
mind, how in a land of Gospel light such appliances could be
deliberately and systematically set on foot for the on-carrying of
evil. I do think, that for their light, — mind, I say for their light
— our black Christianity is superior to the white. The Natives
often said, — ' How is it, Missi, that he was so good and strong
for the Worship before he went to your good Land, and has
been nothing but a plague since he returned ? John, of course,
emphatically cleared the ' good Land ' from all blame, adding
that he would take care not to give any of the rest of them a
chance of going daft by a trip to Australia 1 They don't pursue
the argument after that, as all are eager to go, and perfectly
willing, they say, to accept the risk.
"It was a blessing the Natives were so kind, and oh, how
we experienced that ' God stayeth His rough wind in the day of
His east wind ' ; for except the trouble with Mungaw, we had
no other serious ones to contend with, and He gave us to realize
as I at least never did in the same way how entirely the work
was His. It looked so mysterious, that after we had come down
at such a sacrifice to health and family ties to devote our whole
time to the work, it should be so retarded by one individual ;
P. 21
322 LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
for often, at his worst, only eight or ten had the courage to
come to School, and we could as well have taught fifty. But
we could leave it trustingly to the Lord, feeling that all we had
to do was the work He laid to our hands from day to day. What
a restful feeling it gives one to be ' only an instrument in His
hand.' . . .
" Litsi was the one most in danger, her house standing a
little below ours, and I having been roused at three o'clock to
attend her only the morning before, John was very averse to
my going, in the circumstances ; and I fain would have con-
tented myself with sending her comforts, but I could not think
to leave her with her mad husband, who had still sternly refused
to let any one go near her ; so I hurriedly dressed, roused the
cook to boil the kettle, and took one of my girls with a lamp.
We found to my intense relief the baby already born, and
Mungawso delighted at having another son that he was inclined
to be tolerably kind. I took advantage of his mood — as it was
through him I could reach Litsi — praised him for being such a
clever doctor, and advised him to get her into the house out
of the raw cold air, and offered him the services of my girl
to light a fire, which he graciously condescended to accept !
When I went back with some tea and things for the baby,
they looked much more comfortable, Litsi sitting in the
house by a bright fire, with the lamp beside her. Urging
her to lie down, I returned home and looked into the girls'
house to see how it was faring with my other invalid, — for
dear Yawaci had been carried to us at her own request in a
dying state." . . .
" All that day was spent running betwixt the invalids. Dan-
gerous symptoms ensued with Litsi. Mungaw got fearfully
excited at a lot of women coming to see her, and stood over her
with his loaded musket (he had stolen another, as the pious fit
did not last long), appealing to me whether his word as Chief
should be obeyed or not. I seconded his efforts, as they were
doing no good, and got them cleared to a little distance — at
hand if they were needed, and by deferential behaviour got him
to let me come and go with food, etc. He attributed her illness
to an absurd crotchet of his own, and held to it that she would
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 323
be better at sundown. Meanwhile, the time was being wasted,
and we had so many anxious thoughts. Was it right that her
life should be sacrificed to a madman's freaks ? Was it right to
give in to him, or how far was it right to risk his wrath ? We
took it all to our ever-present Counsellor ; and then John de-
cided that if I found her no better he would go himself, what-
ever the consequences.
" On my way I met Mungaw coming in at the gate with the
empty dishes, and he said quite humbly that he was wrong in
his supposition, and would like exceedingly if the Missi tane"
( = man Missi) would go and see her, for he did not know what
to do. John soon put matters all right, telling them there was
no cause for alarm, — gave directions about one or two things
that had been neglected, and ordered fomentations. She had
no more relapses, and he really seemed grateful the next morn-
ing when he came for her breakfast, as I could not go to her
very early on account of the tidal wave.
" Poor Yavvaci was our chief care after that. It seemed
strange that Litsi, who so longed for death, should survive so
much ill usage, for I could not pen a fiftieth part of the cruelty
— the refinement of cruelty — with which he treated her. One
instance will suffice. We missed him from Church one Sab-
bath, and found that he had spent the time skin?ting the lower
part of her face and pinching little bits of flesh out of her chest
from shoulder to shoulder, threatening her with his club if she
dared to cry out. You will wonder that the Natives did not
interfere. We began to lose all patience with them. I remem-
ber Mr. Inglis once saying, ' It was worth living twenty years
on the Islands just to know what we owed to Christianity,' and
how I thought they were stupid who did not find out all that in
six months or less ! I myself have had to live twelve years on
Aniwa, however, to know what we owe to Lunatic Asylums, and
also to learn how exclusively a man's wife is regarded as his
own peculiar property — that is, to be used exactly as he likes.
They would as soon think of interfering with a man's conduct
to his wife, as we would if in civilization a man chose to burn
his own carpet or smash his own timepiece. They would break
out into the most amused smile, when John was begyiny them
SH LETTERS FROM ANIWA,
to protect her, and say, ' But, Missi, it's his own wife ! ' Of
course, they were mad enough at him, Litsi being a general
favourite, but could not well see their right to interfere.
" Yawaci's breathing was rather easier ; and about eight
o'clock, aftei getting all she could want for the night, we were
so thankful to see her lie down for the first time, and fondly
hoped she was beginning to recover. She called the girls round
her, telling them to sing ; and, after beginning the translation
of ' Nearer, my God, to Thee,' I slipped away leaving them sing-
ing it, and got to my bed thoroughly exhausted. Through the
night, her husband knocked at our bedroom window, saying she
was dying. John sprang up and went to her side, offering a
short prayer, but her spirit fled before he had done, and she was
buried amid heart-felt lamentations before Church Service on
Sabbath, 3rd February. Our hearts were like to break, for she
had been a faithful attached servant — daughter, rather — to us
for ten years ; a sweet little thing about eight or nine when she
first came, and every year we liked her better. She had a
great lump of heart, and I can never forget her devoted care of
us all at that time when we were both laid up and our precious
baby died. It was she I trusted to put the little form in its
last resting-place, myself too weak to move 1 It was so sad to
see her friends going about the next few days, their eyes red
and swollen with weeping. Weeks after, on putting her Photo,
into the hands of one of the sewing women, her head sank lower
over it till the heavy sobs welled up ; and as it was passed from
one to another, there was hardly a dry eye — so generally was
she beloved. You have all the same likeness, a true one, taken
in Melbourne. Mungaw's was not so good — at least it did not
do him justice in his best days ; but it is charming to what he
looked like in his last few months — his face was so wild and
ghastly.
" Poor fellow, I would fain pass over his sad end ; but I must
hasten on and have done with him, as I daresay you are as
tired of the subject as I. The last open break out with his wife
was on the day that her baby was three weeks old. He was in
a very excited state in the morning, threw off his clothing, stuck
on paint (he supplied himself with balls of blue from our wash-
LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 325
ing-house !), and seizing his musket, said he was going to shoot
some one ere he returned. The alarm spread, and John came
to me at the sewing class to warn the women ; but he soon came
back, and I dismissed the School, feeling anxious to get the
children into the house (John would not budge from his usual
work, but he had always Natives with him), and get doors and
windows shut. They had hardly gone when terrible screams
came from his house, and I flew to implore our cooks to protect
Litsi. Just then John rushed past me, telling me I must not
hinder him, as he could not hear that poor girl being killed.
Our boys ran with him, and met Litsi running from her house
covered with blood streaming from the back of her head. John
caught her as she fell forward in a fainting fit, and a woman
caught up her baby ; they were carried to the Imrai, where
John bound up her head and revived her with brandy and water.
I sent her some fresh clothes, as John would not let me see her
till she was revived and doctored, and I followed with some
dinner. Her tormentor was coming too, but John gave him a
look which made him disappear into the bush in quick style.
He re-appeared with the utmost coolness in a nice clean shirt
about half an hour afterwards, and walked right into the Mission
Premises, helping about a score of men to carry a huge log of
wood which John had asked them to bring for some purpose.
— I forget what. During the afternoon School he sat eyeing
Litsi and grinning from the opposite side of the Imrai, and
chatting with the passers-by, as if he had done no wrong !
" Poor Litzi sat leaning against the Church fence, toe weak
to notice anything, but thought she was safer there when John
had to be in School. He told the Natives that she must not
be left to her husband's tender mercies any longer, but that they
must take her to one of their distant villages, and if need be
protect her with their muskets. Our house was too near ; and
besides, if he burnt it to get her it would simply mean death to
us all, — our food was in it, and neither of us being extra strong,
we could not exist on roots and leaves like Natives, — whereas
any of their houses could be replaced in a few days. He said
also that it would never do for him to use arms, — his work was
to teach, theirs to protect each other when necessaiv ^<je>
326 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
all saw the force of his words and heartily agreed with him, but
all managed to back out of it, one after another, Litsi being too
high-spirited to ask protection from any of them.
" When we heard that she was left with only a few women
we both felt it our duty to shelter her, regardless of conse-
quences, and ran out to fetch her ; but the poor gi.-l had fled
with her two little ones to hide for the night in a plantation, one
or two women keeping her company.
" Amid all her own danger, she was mindful of us, and sent
a messenger to warn us that Mungaw would be sure to burn
the house that night if he could. We had a few necessaries
selected, a cask of flour, hops for yeast, changes of clothing,
etc., to put into the Printing Office, which would not burn
so easily with its zinc roof; but when our Aneityumese
Teacher came after dark for their quiet removal, Mungaw ac-
companied him as far as the door ! We all laughed. It was
no use, with such a vigilant spy upon all our movements. But
we were specially reminded of some One watching over us.
" It began to pour torrents of rain, as it so often did when
there was imminent danger, and I sent coverings for the wan-
derers, hot tea, etc., by a circuitous path, with orders to take
them to another invalid should Mungaw meet them. Our girls
entered eagerly into it, and poor Litsi was made tolerably com-
fortable in body for the night, there being an old deserted hut
in the plantation. Next morning, her cousin whispered to me
that two men had taken her under protection to Towleka, a
village a mile off, and that Mungaw had no idea of her where-
abouts, supposing her to be with us, as he had sent word the
evening before that he would kill her if she went anywhere
else.
" He got fearfully roused at not finding her by the afternoon,
and sprang up after writing a line or two of his copy (he in-
sisted on attending School) to go in search, beginning at the
nearest villages, armed with club and killing-stone, and nearly
frightening the life out of a dumpy little virago, who was in the
habit of hen-pecking her own husband. It was capital to see
her thoroughly cowed for once ! His wrath grew with his want
of success ; and, returning after school, he told our boys in a
LETTERS FROM ANIVVA. 327
tone of suppressed rage that he was now going to Towleka to
kill Litsi if he found her there. One of them flew through the
bush to warn her of his approach, and John and I went to the
Study to commit her to God. I think I would have gone mad
myself, if we had not had our never-failing Refuge in these
troublous times !
"We heard after retiring for the night an infant's piteous
wail, and found that, failing to get the mother (for the Natives
would not let him finish her quite, though he dragged her out of
the house by her hair, wool rather), he had torn the baby from
her and rushed home with it, knowing that she would follow it
at any risk. It was awfully hard to keep John in the house,
but I felt there was not the slightest use in going. We heard
other voices remonstrating, and the cries ceasing we knew that
Litsi had come. About midnight, what seemed to be the death
wail in Litsi's voice made us think he had murdered the baby.
It continued for about three hours, and rose to a perfect agony ot
distress before stopping. On inquiry at daybreak, for which we
anxiously waited, it turned out that he had tied her arms and
legs in the most savage manner, only loosing her when two or
three Natives went to the rescue. It was at the risk of their
lives they did it, and all warned us not to go to their house that
morning, as he was raving mad and would not hesitate to kill
any one coming near.
" We just felt that poor Litsi had all the more right to our
sympathy, when no one else would go. They insisted that she
was dead and the baby too, there was such silence round all the
place. John would not let me go alone, and I would not let
him go alone, so we compromised the matter by going together,
and took a plentiful breakfast as an excuse for intruding on his
lordship's privacy, the Natives looking after with wistful eyes,
but not one offering to accompany us to the lion's den 1 I
trembled violently, though I felt the Lord was with us, and
was almost relieved when we found the house deserted ; but
John called aloud for Litsi several times, and at last she came
staggering from an enclosure opposite, from which the occupant
had fled when Mungaw first went mad. She was trembling
with pain and weakness, and when we were going over the stile,
328 LETTERS FROM ANIIVA.
she looked back alarmed and said, ' You'd better not, Missi,' so
we spoke a few cheering words as we stood, and told her again
that our house was open to her, night or day, whenever she
needed shelter.
" Some of the Church members came to ask what was to be
done with him. Tieing only made him worse ; confining or
shooting were the only other alternatives. To confine him was
impossible. Were they to shoot him? John, of course, would
not hear of that, and they asked if there was no sort of medicine
to cure madness ! A near friend got him away to his village,
where they had a long talk, and warned him of the consequences.
The moment he went, I ran off to sit awhile with Litsi. We
feared she would sink under her trials, and wished she had
access to the rich consolations with which we were upheld every
day in our little readings both of the Bible and other books. It
seemed as if the Words were printed for our express circum-
stances and comfort. My own morning Reading was in the
Psalms, and I never felt them so suitable. The very ones I used
to think David had written in a fit of indigestion were fraught
with the deepest comfort and meaning, and favourite passages
were more precious than ever. I never noticed before that the
passage, ' Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I,' begins
with ' From the end of the Earth will I cry unto Thee,' — so
applicable to us ! John and I have often remarked to each
other that we had to come all the way to the South Seas to
understand some bits of the Bible ; and I see Bowen in his
'Daily Meditations' says the same in reference to India, where
he laboured so devotedly as a Missionary. We have another
precious book which we were reading aloud and enjoyed next to
the Bible, — Boardman's ' In the Power of the Spirit,' given us
also before leaving Australia.
" How we wished poor Litsi could share all these privileges,
and wondered if her faith were keeping alive at all, but her
spirit was beautifully submissive. When I told her that, how-
ever difficult it might be for her to believe it, her Saviour God
was tenderly caring for her every moment and would not let
her have one more trial than she could bear, and that it would
relieve her to take all her sorrows to Him, she replied, ' Oh, I
LETTERS FROM ANJWA. 329
know it, Missi ; my whole words now are prayer ; for I have no
one else to speak to. and would have gone mad if I could not
have told my Saviour ! I tell Him everything, and know that it
is all right even if Mungaw should kill me, for he can't harm
me beyond the grave.' I told her not a single night passed that
we were not engaging in prayer for her, and she said, — ' These
prayers have been answered ; for he has had the wish to kill me
and burn your house, and he could easily have done both had
not God prevented.'
" The whole provocation (I forgot to say) he had for laying
her head open at this time, was her saying, ' Oh, don't do that !'
when he got up to burn the fine new house he had nearly com-
pleted. She learned never again to contradict him, even when
he made the wildest proposals. The next house he burnt, a
neighbour's, he told her with a diabolical grin (he had such a
beautiful smile in his sane days !) of his purpose, and she merely
said, ' Are you?' and slipped round to take everything valuable
out of it, as the owners were living a week or two on a lonely
little islet adjoining this, where the Natives often go for change
and fishing. Of course, they said nothing about it on their
return ; no one in the Island was prepared to tackle such a
character, and he presumed accordingly, turning his attentions
more to the general public after this, and dividing his favours
pretty equally over the whole Island. He plundered the planta-
tions in rotation, and shot all the pigs which came in his way,
bringing Litsi part of the spoil ; but she suddenly seemed
possessed of the spirit of half a dozen, sternly refusing to touch
one morsel of stolen food, and took their eldest little boy to the
furthest village, begging the people to keep him as he was too
young to refuse what was stolen. She then came to beg of me
for a dose of poison — she thought the stuff we killed the rats
with would do — as he was too wicked to live, and would bring a
judgment on the whole Island. She had such a chance through
the night when he fell into a deep sleep (the first time he was
known to sleep for many weeks), and she had a great wish t<
take his life, but was afraid God would not like it.
" I confirmed her fears and counselled patience a little longer,
as the Missi was getting the boat repaired to go to Tanna. and
33° LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
it was well known Mungaw wanted to go there and stay a
while. This was the last hope of the whole Island, and all were
eager to see the boat finished, none more so than I, having an
additional reason, viz., that it took John away to a distance
nearly the whole day, and though he always left me with a body-
guard he was not so careful of himself. I must say, the Natives
were very thoughtful about him, however, and would not let him
continue to take his nightly turns in watching our house. They
begged him to arm himself, but that, of course, he would not do.
He and our Aneityumese Teacher were the only ones who would
not carry a weapon of any kind, or give in to him when it was
right to be firm, and they were the only two Mungaw had the
slightest fear of; but he kept prowling about our Premises
day and night, for what intent he best knew. When he used to
set off on his peregrinations, it was such a relief to throw windows
and doors open for air ; but back he would come with the
rapidity of a race horse. Many a fainting fit he gave me ; and
F. used to get white to the lips when he appeared. Even little
J. began to lisp, — ' I frightened Mungaw ! '
" About the only time I was thankful to see him come was
after he had been tracking John's footsteps closer than I liked.
I was watching him from our front verandah as he went off to
his boat, the two lads a little before, when Mungaw suddenly
appeared close behind him — axe in hand. I could see a long
way, and when John stooped to examine a bush or fern Mungaw
stopped too, always keeping right at his back. Visions of the
murdered Gordons rose vividly before me, and I felt distracted.
I knew that John and the boys were on their guard, and plenty
of Natives were about, but a blow could be so easily struck ! I
went in-doors and told my God and then our Aneityumese
Teacher (we showed as little fear as possible before our Natives),
so that if he thought there was real danger he would go to him.
He looked anxious and questioned me minutely, but went on
quietly with his work, and I tried to follow his example ; but
my feet would carry me to the verandah, till the welcome sight
of that usually dreaded form, tossing his axe in the air and
catching it by the handle, allayed all fears, for I knew that had
he done any harm he would have rushed into hiding.
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 331
" His last days were spent pulling up the people's bananas
and sugar-cane, destroying what he could not devour. He took
our boys' blankets and boxes, and walked off with the looking-
glass from the girls' house. Just the Sunday morning before he
was shot he turned out all the girls' boxes while we were at
breakfast, and pranced up and down our front verandah. We
had just finished our own Family Worship, and John was going
off for a little quiet to his Study, when we heard the Church bell
being furiously rung a full hour before the time ! The Natives
already gathered stood staring at each other in consternation,
others hurried forward, thinking they were late, and the usual
bell-ringer came panting to know why the work was so un-
ceremoniously taken out of his hands ! The more they begged
Mungaw to leave off the quicker he rang, till John ran out and
ordered him to stop instantly, which he did.
" He did not trouble us another Sunday, poor fellow, but he
gave me two or three thorough frights through the week, once
surprising me suddenly on the verandah, when mounted on a
high box, and oil-painting the woodwork of the house. On the
following Saturday morning, as we were in the garden, Litsi
passed the fence and I ran to her. She said, 'When will the
boat be ready, Missi ? ' I told her that there was just a little
paint to finish to-day, and it would sail on Monday, so she
would have only two days more of endurance. She jumped
and clapped her hands, saying, ' My heart sings, for he's sure to
go!'
" But that same evening, as we sat at a late tea, our spirits
brighter than usual, feeling that relief was near (though it came
not in the way we expected), for the Dayspring was to leave
Sydney on Monday and would be getting nearer us every day,
we heard the fatal shot go off close beside us ! We have heard
as loud reports and even nearer, when they were killing flying
foxes or birds, which caused us nothing more than a start and
a laugh ; but there was something in that which made us spring
simultaneously from our seats and stand in awe. John said,
1 Someone is shot ! Either Mungaw, or some one by his hand.'
He had barely uttered the words, when the awful death-wail in
Litsi's voice confirmed our fears. Our girls rushed in from the
332 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
bath-room, where they had been filling baths and getting all
ready for Sunday, and said, " That's Mungaw, Missi, for the
Inahutshi people told us not to be alarmed if we heard a shot
after dark, as we would know it was Mungaw killed.'
" It had all been deliberately arranged, and we knew not a
word about it. John said, ' Then I must run and see what I can
do for the poor fellow,' and was off ; but another loud report
made me implore him to come back, till we ascertained certainly
what the matter was, as he might be shot in the dark without
any one meaning it, and F. decided the matter by saying in a
faint voice, ' Papa, will you stay and take care of us ? ' His
papa put his arm round him and said, ' Yes, my boy, I'll not
leave the room again.'
"Two or three Natives came to tell us that Mungaw was shot
dead, and that John's going would be no use now. He engaged
in prayer, and oh, how our hearts bled for the poor fellow !
Now that his sad end had come, we could only think of him as
he once was ; as, for instance, we saw him one evening years
before stand calm and tranquil, with three enraged men pointing
their muskets at him for spoiling some Heathen performance,
and telling them he would not fight, and that the worst they
could do would only send him to Heaven. Or again, as he used
to go about pleading with the young boys (a mere boy himself)
not to follow the footsteps of their fathers, but come out
decidedly for the Lord Jesus. Or again, we thought of the time
when he was John's right hand man, and would almost have
laid down his life to serve him. His two nearest friends, on
coming to ask if they would bury him at once, laid down their
heads and sobbed aloud, though, like all the Aniwans, they had
wished for his death. It was a sad, sad night ; the hurried and
midnight burial, the suppressed excitement, the fear and un-
certainty about the real murderers and what would follow next,
*nd last of all that young and once noble fellow cut down in the
midst of his days.
" He had just left our Premises and gone home for supper,
and then had worship (!) with Litsi, after which she told him
not to go outside, as two or three men had been watching for
three nights to get a good aim at him. He courted death and
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 333
would go out, saying to Litsi, ' You come with me.' She went
out first and thought she saw a man standing ; but next moment
the attention of both was suddenly directed to a meteor in its
transit, and while gazing at it the musket went off, going through
Mungaw's body from arm to arm. He fell down by his owe
door, crying, iAwaiP ( = Alas ! ), and died immediately, the
murderers making their escape as they shot the other musket
into the air. . . .
" You may be sure, after these trying times and seven months'
utter silence regarding our absent ones, we were intensely
delighted to welcome the dear old Dayspring once more. But
strange as it may seem, this is our most trying time ; for all the
anxiety of the past months seems to accumulate into an agony
of suspense, from the time her sails are discerned till we have
opened the most desired-for letters of our mail and found all
well. She arrived atAniwajust two days after we calculated
upon seeing her, April 24th. The first announcement of her
approach came as we were assembled in Church at three
o'clock for the prayer-meeting ; and I'm afraid the Services had
not their usual interest for me ! How John could proceed
quietly with his address, under the excitement, was a puzzle :
for I saw him start, and we exchanged earnest looks, as the
well-known cry greeted our ears, and then two Natives came
panting in with beaming faces, darting intelligent looks all
around.
" The Service did come to an end at last, and then every one's*
tongue was loosed. It was the Dayspring with out doubt; but was
there wind enough to bring her in that day ? I made an agree-
ment with the herd who went for the goats to shout again if it
were very near, and soon a dozen voices yelled back the answer.
I flew to give orders for all sorts of preparations, but not a girl
was to be found, all having rushed up the hill to see for them-
selves ; and when they came, they were so mad with joyful
excitement, that instead of their usual respectful demeanour they
tumbled heels over head on the verandah two or three times,
before they could compose themselves to work ; and so many
little things waiting to be done ! . . .
" We gathered round such a happy tea-table ; for it is the
334 LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
most exquisite treat to have intercourse with kindred spirits in
our own tongue, after jabbering so many months to the Darkies,
and to get all the news from the civilized world. Such a Mail
too ! Over one hundred letters, and no end of papers. We
simply looked at all your different handwritings, but devoured
our bairns' monthly budgets that night after our visitors had
retired to their rooms. . . .
" The second Communion since our return also took place at
this time, and was a season of great refreshing and comfort ;
but the sight of that little group of Communicants is always too
much for me, especially when they stand up to sing so heartily !
I could fain lay down my head and sob, were it not that I have
the harmonium to attend to and must crush my heart down as
best I can. All our trials and privations, looked at in the light
of that little sable band (glancing back at what they once were)
now sitting at their Lord's Table, seem as nothing — as less than
nothing.
" A stranger might simply have his risibles excited by the
somewhat grotesque costume of the congregation. Indeed, I
had to turn away my own head, as our two worthy Elders came
in for the ' Elements' before the Service, with the most impos-
ing gravity, with manifest devotion in their looks, but in all the
dignity of their office, and with special hats to grace the
occasion. The one had his white shirt done up round his hat
so as to represent a puggaree, and, as it hung a long way be-
hind, he had to keep his head well-balanced for fear of it fall-
ing back. As for the other, who or what his hat had been origin-
ally intended for, we were at a loss to divine ! It has always been
our difficulty to get them large enough to include their wool;
but this, a light grey chimney-pot, overtopped wool and all till it
rested on the tip of his nose, which fortunately being a very large
one prevented his face from disappearing altogether ! . . .
" The Captain's plan was to land us on Sunday morning,
lie off and on till Monday to land our luggage and some
wood John had bought on Aneityum, and then return for the
McDonalds at Port Resolution on his way northward. Mrs.
Milne and I lay pillowed on deck, enjoying the moonlight till
quite late, and having such a musical treat from Mr. Michelsen,
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 335
who sings and accompanies himself on the guitar with great
taste. He had been playing it on deck in the afternoon, and
we begged him to bring it up again after tea. The moon was
brilliantly reflected on the water, and the ship lying so still,
when he began with the exquisite guitar accompaniment to
sing ' Jesus, lover of my soul,' — the Missionaries standing round
and joining softly in parts, while we were quietly crying. I
have heard Oratorios in the old country rendered so that they
almost took one out of the body, but never anything that went
to my heart like this ! You would need to take in the whole
circumstances to know how we felt it The Vessel, with her
little band of Missionaries so far from kindred and country,
and about to separate for their lonely homes, and we knew not
how much trial awaiting them 1 . . .
"We have already 600 lbs. of Arrowroot (to pay for the
Gospel-books) put up, mostly in 10 lb. bags. The Natives are
still making more, and the demands upon me for calico have
been endless. After ransacking boxes for every inch that could
be got to dry it upon and to make bags, I had to sacrifice all
my common sheets and table-cloths ; and, while trying to bear
up under this calamity with Christian fortitude, John roused all
the old Adam in me, by coolly bidding me be quick and get
out my linen ones and best table- cloths, as it was a splendid
day for drying ! I emphatically declared that my few best
things should remain untouched, though the Natives should
never get their books ; and, by a little management in making
the others do, I have kept to my wicked vow. . . .
"It is now the 1st of August, though I see that I began this
on the 8th of July, and I have not begun to write a single
private letter, and so many to answer ; and the huge piles,
which made our eyes dance with joy on receiving them, are
regarded rather ruefully, now that we have got to reply to
them ! I must leave out, therefore, all other items of interest
which I intended writing, as this is already far too long, — and
close with warmest love from
u Your ever-loving Sister,
''Maggie Whitecross Paton."
336 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
(1879.)
TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE.
" My dearest Sisters and Brothers, — . . .
" Our next bit of excitement was on New Year's Day; when
the usual shooting match came off, and prizes were awarded
to the winners. The most amusing part to us was the racing
amongst younger boys and g* 'l The Chief, whom John had
placed in charge of the prizes, « ould put a belt, necktie, or bit
of red calico on a post at a certain distance off, and then the
word of command was given to the eager little monkeys, and
they made such a scramble as they neared it! The grand
entertainment, however, — the Magic Lantern, was reserved for
the evening, and was quite a success. Everybody on the island
that was able to crawl at all put in an appearance, including
two old bed-ridden women, who set out in the early morning
and managed a journey of two miles by the time it got dark !
John had all Mr. Watt's slides, as well as his own, and the
Natives were in perfect ecstasies of delight the whole evening ;
but when he finished off with ' the revolving light,' they fairly
yelled with delight and amazement, declaring it must be
'Tetovas' ( = gods) who made that ! . . .
" The Vessel turned out to be a Slaver, and sent in a boat
with Native crew and two white men in search of Natives.
The boat kept in deep water just outside the reef, and some
Aniwans waded out and were shouted to in ' Sandal-wood
English.' They wanted men or boys, and would give a musket
for every one they got. Our Natives shouted back that they
were ' Missi's worshipping people,' and did not want to go with
Traders. One of the white men stupidly (it must have been in
fun) levelled a musket at one of our Natives, when the cap
snapped and set the Natives in a great rage, believing that he
tried to kill some of them. The man levelled at, a fiery fellow,
a returned labourer, flew for his musket and would have made
short work with the white man, had not John and the Church
members interfered,— John actually standing right between him
LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 337
and the boat to prevent shots being fired. He waved the boat
off with his hat, pointing to the armed men, which they seemed
to comprehend, and after returning hats they made for the ship,
which soon disappeared in the horizon.
" I was annoyed enough at John exposing himself, not that
a person on Aniwa now would harm him, for I often wish that
they loved their Saviour as much as they do their Missionary,
but it is seldom one's duty to stand in the way of loaded
muskets ! You would hardly believe, though, the kind of thanks
he got from the wretches he tried to save. They went to Fate,
wrote out a paper to the effect that 'they had called at Aniwa
for labourers, but that the Missionary, Mr. Paton, had come
out to attack them at the head of an armed party. The man
in charge of the boat, however, had Mr. Paton covered with his
rifle, so that had a single shot been fired into it he would have
fallen in revenge.' And the paper has been posted up on the
door of the principal store in Havannah Harbour ! Those are
the sort of men, authorized by our British Government to scour
these Islands. We were perfectly thunderstruck when Mr. Mc-
Donald happened to mention it to John, after he had decided
to go North, in case he should see it himself. Mr. McDonald
sees enough of the Traders and their doings, and treated it
with amused contempt as it deserved.
" It is nearly as bad as the Nguna case, where the chief mate
of the Jason swore in a Queensland law-court that the Rev. P.
Milne caused the Natives to fire into his boat. A Man-of-war
was despatched to inquire into the proceedings of this dreadful
Missionary, and it was proved that poor Mr. Milne was sound
asleep in his bed (it was early morning), and did not even know
of the affray till months after it happened. It was the two
husbands of two Native women, that this honest mate was
trying to make off with (and did make off with), that owned to
having fired the shots ! It is not the first time that John has
interfered to save the worthless lives of these Slavers ; but the
whole fraternity may be riddled with bullets before I consent to
his stirring his finger again in their miserable quarrels. . . .
"Litsi has since consoled herself with another husband, —
related to poor Mungaw, and a real love-match, as they both
P. 22
338 LETTERS FROM ANIWA.
freely confessed. Litsi was as playful and coy over it as a
young lassie ; though, when she stood up for the ceremony, she
whisperingly informed the bystanders with a giggle that she
didn't want to get married ! I suppose she thought some
appearance of an apology necessary for her third presentation
in that Church as a bride. We felt thankful when the marriage
was past, for there had been the usual scramble to get her and
consequent bitterness of feeling by the rejected ones, some of
them far handsomer and better men than the prize winner,
But Noopooraw had shown the depth of his aftection by threat-
ening to kill her if she did not have him, which according to
Native is the strongest expression of devotion, and is precisely
the same as a wildly-enthusiastic admirer at home threatening
to kill himself in similar circumstances. The despairing lover
in these Seas never dreams of taking away his own life, but
hers instead, finding that probably the more powerful argument
of the two ! . . .
" It is getting very late and I must pass over all else and tell
you what a charming time we had at Erromanga, where the
Mission Synod was held this year. Mrs. McDonald and I were
the only ladies to keep Mrs. Robertson company ; and I was
complimented upon now being the "mother" of the Mission,
and carrying my honours quite becomingly — having become
plump and vigorous since the Hurricane. ... It seemed
like fairy land to enter dear Mrs. Robertson's pretty, shady, cool
house after enduring two days' suffocation with the horrid bilge
water on board the Dayspring. . . . Every day brought us
fresh pleasures, afternoon rambles on the mountains and walks
by the river course up that beautiful valley, when ' the brethren'
were at liberty to dance attendance on us, having all their
Synod business over before dinner. . . . How pleasantly
those days flew past, only they can understand who have been
cut off from kindred spirits as we are ! We three ladies were,
of course, all that could be wished for (?) ; and every one of the
Missionaries was kinder than another. Even in Synod, where
Ministers are apt to indulge in the grace of candour to an
uncalled-for degree, there was not a jarring word— owing, per-
haps, to that bilge water having taken all the bile out of them
LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 339
on the voyage ! . . . The house is charmingly situated on
terraced ground at the foot of a high mountain, near the centre
of the Bay, with that lovely river to the right flowing past
within a few yards of the enclosure. . . . Our eyes were
constantly wandering off to the lovely scene before us, — and
one with a history too ! That very river was once reddened
with the blood of Williams and of Harris ; and the grass-covered
mountain towering up from it was the scene of the Gordon
tragedy, — while their grave-stones gleam white through the
greenery on its opposite banks. Dear Mr. McNair's grave is
close beside them. All looked so peaceful now, with the Day-
spring lying quietly at anchor in the Bay, and canoes manned
by Christian Natives paddling about in its blue waters !
" What a contrast to these former days of blood ; and even a
contrast, as the Robertsons told us, to what they had to suffer
only in January last. The Heathen Chiefs were getting fierce
at the rapid strides Christianity was making all round the
Island, and laid a deep plot to take the Missionaries' lives.
They chose their time well, when nearly all Mr. Robertson's
young men were away at Cook's Bay ; and you may imagine
his and Mrs. Robertson's feelings, when the alarm got up one
night as they sat quietly reading. They went into their bed-
room and took their stand beside their three sleeping children.
Escape by sea was impossible, even could they get to their
boat, the night being stormy. Mrs. Robertson turned to her
husband and said, — 'Do you think they could touch those
sleeping lambs ? ' He smiled bitterly, — ' What do they care for
our sleeping lambs?' Yomit, a devoted Erromangan Teacher,
came in to them, and she turned to him, saying, — O Yomit, do
you think they could have the heart to kill those little sleeping
darlings?' He raised his arm and said, — ' Missi, they'll have
to cut this body of mine in pieces ere ever they get near
them ! ' He started off and collected all the available help
necessary, sending secret messages overland in different direc-
tions to their friends, so that before morning the Mission House
was surrounded by 200 warriors, ready to give their lives in
defence of their Missionary. And these were the very men
who murdered the Gordons ; — explain the change ! Jesus has
been amongst them ! . . .
340 LETTERS FROM AN1WA.
" Our visit there was all too short, as the Synod lasted only
a week. We commemorated the Lord's Supper together, on
the Sabbath evening before we broke up. One evening too
there was an interesting Bible Society meeting, at which John
was Chairman ; and, in response to an urgent appeal from
London, Mr. Copeland proposed that Missionaries and seamen
should all add a day's wages to their usual subscription — which
was most willingly agreed to. . . .
" We tore across from Erromanga with a good wind, landing
about sundown, and got a warm welcome from our dear old
Darkies, who had all turned out in their best garments to meet
us, though it was pouring rain. John went on in the Dayspring
to be left on Tanna for a fortnight at Kwamera, to make some
small return for the Watts' great kindness to our Natives while
we were in Melbourne. . . . He enjoyed his fortnight there
intensely. The Mission Premises were like a new pin, and the
Tannese longing for Mr. and Mrs. Watts' return with their
whole hearts. Their little boys and girls at the Station attended
to John so faithfully, and continually followed him about, ask-
ing daily and often in a day the same question, — 'When will our
Missis be back?' There are more than the Tannese longing
for their return, and it will be a glad day when we see their dear
faces again. . . .
"John has decided not to make any change for another year,
if at all able to hold on. It is no use now for me to pretend
I'm delicate, as appearances so tell against me ! But I insist
that I've got heart disease, and that only the sight of my bairns
can cure it. . . .
" It is only a week yesterday since John returned from Kwa-
mera, and was overwhelmed with such an ovation as he never
yet got from our Natives. They opened their hearts to the
most unheard-of generosity, and actually parted with their
precious pigs to show their love for him, besides a great quantity
of yam. They also gave a present about half the size of ours
to the Captain of the Dayspring, — pigs, yams, cocoa-nuts, and
bananas. His were laid on the centre patch ol grass before
the house, and John's to the side, in front of the Study door.
The pigs (thirteen in number !), all tied and laid out to be seen to
LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 341
the best advantage (they were heard too), so that when Captain
and Mrs. Braithwaite and John arrived they were greeted with —
' Pigs to the right of them,
Pigs to the left of them,
Pigs in front of them,
Guzzling and grunting.'
How they did grunt ! The Captain growled out his thanks in
sailor's phraseology, which having translated, John walked round
to the side, followed by his grinning Parishioners, and politely
thanked them for their kind gifts to us, — telling them that it
was the feeling which prompted it more than the gift itself
which he valued ! I felt that he was telling the truth in all
sincerity, for he hates the very sight of pork, and- whispered
aside to me, — 'What on earth are we to do with all these
beasts?' . . .
" We expect the Day spring in about a fortnight to call for
our mail, and as I've a very large one to answer it is time it
were begun, for we'll be very much interrupted by the arrowroot
making. The whole of the Natives are busy digging it up at
present, and the Premises will be like a beehive in a few days
when they begin to grate it. We were so pleased to be able to
tell them that the last sold so very well through the great kind-
ness of Melbourne friends. The calico in the South Yarra
boxes — worth its weight in gold— is being sewed up into sheets
and bags for drying and packing it, as fast as ever we can ; but
we hardly expect it to be ready to go till the December trip of
the vessel. They are to have another book of the Bible printed
in the Aniwan language.
" Ever, with warmest love,
"Your loving Sister,
" Maggie Whitecross Paton."
CHAPTER X.
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
"Wanted a Steam Auxiliary." — Commissioned Home to Britain.
— English Presbyterian Synod. — United Presbyterian
Synod.— The " Veto" from the Sydney Board. — Dr. J. Hood
Wilson. — The Free Church Assembly. — Neutrality of
Foreign Mission Committee. — The Church of Scotland. — ■
At Holyrood and Alva House. — The Irish Presbyterian
Assembly. — The Pan-Presbyterian Council. — My " Plan of
Campaign." — Old Ireland's Response. — Operations in
Scotland. — Seventy Letters in a Day. — Beautiful Type of
Merchant. — My First ^ioo at Dundee. — Peculiar Gifts and
Offerings. — Approach to London. — Mildmay's Open Door.
—Largest Single Donation. — Personal Memories of Lon-
don.— Garden-Party at Mr. Spurgeon's.— The Hon. Ion
Keith-Falconer. — Three New Missionaries. — " Restitution-
Money." — The Farewell at Mildmay. — Welcome to Victoria.
—The Dream of my Life. — The New Mission Ship Delayed.
— Welcome back to Aniwa. — Parting Testimony. — Fare-
thee-well.
IN December 1883, I brought a pressing and vital
matter before the General Assembly of the Pres-
byterian Church of Victoria. It pertained to the
New Hebrides Mission, to the vastly increased require-
ments of the Missionaries and their families there, and
\> the fact that the Dayspring was no longer capable
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 343
of meeting the necessities of the case, — thereby incur-
ring loss of time, loss of property, and risk and even
loss of precious lives. The Missionaries on the spot
had long felt this, and had loudly and earnestly pled
for a new and larger Vessel, or a Vessel with Steam
Auxiliary power, or some arrangement whereby the
work of God on these Islands might be overtaken,
without unnecessary exposure of life, and without the
dreaded perils that acrue to a small sailing Vessel such
as the Dayspring, alike from deadly calms and from
treacherous gales
The Victorian General Assembly, heartily at one
with the Missionaries, commissioned me to go home
to Britain in 1884, making me at the same time their
Missionary delegate to the Pan-Presbyterian Council
at Belfast, and also their representative to the General
Assemblies of the several Presbyterian Churches in
Great Britain and Ireland. And they empowered
and authorized me to lay our proposals about a
new Steam-Auxiliary Mission Ship before all these
Churches, and to ask and receive from God's people
whatever contributions they felt disposed to give to-
wards the sum of £6,000, without which this great
undertaking could not be faced.
At Suez, I forwarded a copy of my commissions
from Victoria, from South Australia, and from the
Islands Synod, to the Clerks of the various Church
Courts, accompanied by a note specifying my home-
address, and expressing the hope that an opportunity
would be given me of pleading this special cause on
344 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
behalf of our New Hebrides Mission. On reaching
my brother's residence in Glasgow, I found to my
deep amazement that replies awaited me from all the
Churches, except our own, — i.e., the Free Church,
which I call our own, as having taken over our
South Seas Mission when it entered into Union with
the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to which I ori-
ginally belonged, though now I was supported by
the Church of Victoria. This fact pained me. It is
noted here. An explanation will come in due course.
A few days after my arrival, I was called upon to
appear before the Supreme Court of the English Pres-
byterian Church, then assembled at Liverpool. While
a hymn was being sung, I took my seat in the pulpit
under great depression. But light broke around, when
my dear friend and fellow-student, Dr. Oswald Dykes,
came up from the body of the Church, shook me
warmly by the hand, whispered a few encouraging
words in my ear, and returned to his seat. God
helped me to tell my story, and the audience were
manifestly interested. Again, however, another indi-
cation of a rift somewhere, unknown to me, was con-
sciously or otherwise given, when both the Moderator
and Professor Graham, in addressing the Deputies
and referring to their Churches and speeches indi-
vidually, conspicuously omitted all reference to the
New Hebrides and the special proposal which I had
brought before them. Again I made a note, and my
wonder deepened.
Next, by kind invitation I visited and addressed
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 345
the United Presbyterian Synod of Scotland, as-
sembled in Edinburgh. My reception there was not
only cordial, — it was enthusiastic. Though as a
Church they had no denominational interest in our
Mission, the Moderator, amidst the cheers of all the
Ministers and Elders, recommended that I should
have free access to every Congregation and Sabbath
School which I found it possible to visit, and hoped
that their generous-hearted people would contribute
freely to so needful and noble a cause. My soul rose
in praise ; and I may here say, in passing, that every
Minister of that Church whom I wrote to or visited
treated me in the same spirit through all my tour.
Having been invited by Mr. Dickson, an Elder of
the Free Church, to address a mid-day meeting of
children in the Free Assembly Hall, — and the Satur-
day before the Meeting of Assembly having now
arrived without bringing any reply to my note to be
received and heard, I determined to call at the Free
Church Offices, and make inquiries at least. They
treated me with all possible kindness and sympathy,
but explained to me the strange perplexity that had
been introduced into my case. A letter had been
forwarded to them from the Day spring Board at
Sydney, intimating that the Victorian Church had no
right to commission me to raise a new Steam-
Auxiliary Ship without consulting them, and that
they placed their direct veto upon the Free Church
Authorities in any way sanctioning that proposal or
authorizing me to raise the money. Here, then, was
24<> LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
the rift ; and many things that had recently perplexed
me were explained thereby.
Here is not the place to discuss our differences, nor
shall I take advantage of my book to criticize those
who have no similar opportunity of answering me.
But the facts I must relate, and exactly as they oc-
curred, to show how the Lord over-ruled everything
for the accomplishment of His own blessed purposes.
Doubtless the friends at Sydney had their own way
of looking at and explaining everything ; and the best
of friends must sometimes differ, even in the Mission
field, and yet learn to respect each other and work
so far as they can agree towards common ends in the
service of the Divine Lord and Master.
My commission was publicly intimated. Com-
munication had also been made to the Church of
New South Wales as to appointing me their second
representative to the Pan- Presbyterian Council, in
connection with my mission to Britain, but they re-
plied that one would serve their purpose. And South
Australia and Tasmania were both written to regard-
ing the object of my visit to the home countries.
But no note of dissent, no hint of disapproval from
any quarter, was intimated to the Victorian Church,
or in any sense, directly or indirectly, reached me till
I heard of that so-called veto in the Free Church
Offices at Edinburgh.
This intimation, just as I was entering the As-
sembly Hall to address a great congregation of
children and their friends, staggered me beyond all
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 347
description. The Free Church alone, in Scotland,
now supported our New Hebrides Mission. From it
I expected the principal contributions for the sorely-
needed new Mission Ship. And now, by the action of
the Dayspring Board at Sydney, the Free Church
was debarred from acknowledging my three-fold com-
mission or in any direct way sanctioning my appeals.
No sorer wound had ever been inflicted on me ; and
when I sat down on the platform beside Mr. Dickson,
my head swam for several minutes, and faintishness
almost overpowered me. But, by the time my name
was called, the Lord my Helper enabled me to pull
myself together ; I committed this cause also with
unfailing assurance to Him ; and by all appearances
I was able greatly to interest and impress the Chil-
dren. At the close, my dear and noble friend, Pro-
fessor Cairns, warmly welcomed and cheered me, and
that counted for much amid the depressions of the
day. But when all were gone and we two were left,
Mr. Dickson under deep emotion said, —
"Mr. Paton, that veto has spoiled your mission
home. The Free Church cannot take you by the
hand in face of the veto from Sydney 1 "
Having letters from Andrew Scott, Esquire, Car-
rugal, my very dear friend and helper in Australia,
to Dr. J. Hood Wilson, Barclay Free Church, Edin-
burgh, I resolved to deliver them that evening ; and
I prayed the Lord to open up all my path, as I was
thus thrown solely on Him for guidance and bereft
of the aid of man. Dr. Wilson and his lady, neither
348 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
of whom I had ever seen before, received me as
kindly as if I had been an old friend. He read my
letters of introduction, conversed with me as to plans
and wishes (chiefly through Mrs. Wilson, for he was
suffering from sore throat), and then he said with
great warmth and kindliness, —
" God has surely sent you here to-night ! I feel
myself unable to preach to-morrow. Occupy my
pulpit in the forenoon and address my Sabbath
School, and you shall have a collection for your
Ship."
Thereafter, I was with equal kindness received by
Mr. Balfour, having a letter of introduction from his
brother, and he offered me his pulpit for the evening
of the day. I lay down blessing and praising Him,
the Angel of whose Presence was thus going before
me and opening up my way. That Lord's Day I
had great blessing and joy ; there was an extraordin-
ary response financially to my appeals ; and my pro-
posal was thus fairly launched in the Metropolis of
our Scottish Church life. I remembered an old saying,
Difficulties are made just to be vanquished. And I
thought in my deeper soul, — Thus our God throws
us back upon Himself; and if these ;£6,ooo ever
come to me, to the Lord God alone, and not to man,
shall be all the glory !
On the Monday following, after a long conversa-
tion and every possible explanation, Colonel Young,
of the Free Church Foreign Missions Committee,
said, —
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 349
" We must have you to address the Assembly on
the evening devoted to Missions."
But the rest insisted that, to keep straight with the
Board at Sydney, no formal approval should be given
of my proposals. This I agreed to, on condition that
the Committee did not publish the Sydney veto, but
allowed it simply to lie on their table or in their
minutes. Thus I had the pleasure and honour of
addressing that great Assembly ; and though no
notice was taken of my proposals in any "rinding"
of the Court, yet many were thereby interested deeply
in our work, and requests now poured in upon me
from every quarter to occupy pulpits and receive col-
lections for the new Ship.
Still I had occasional trouble and misunderstand-
ing through that veto during all my tour in Britain
and Ireland. It prevented me particularly from get-
ting access to the Free Church Foreign Missions
Committee, or addressing them on one single occa-
sion, though I pled hard to be allowed to do so and
to explain my position. This I felt all the more
keenly, as I laboured freely and for weeks, along with
their noble Missionaries then at home on furlough, in
addressing meetings in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Greenock,
etc., chiefly for Sabbath Scholars, but from which I
received no help directly in the matter of the Mission
Ship. Doubtless they were trying to do their duty,
and refusing to take either side ; and that they
thought they had succeeded appears from the follow-
ing fact. When rumour reached Australia that my
350 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
Mission home had been under God a great success, a
letter came to them from their Committee's agent in
Sydney as to the " application " of the sum that had
been raised by me, to which they replied, —
"The Foreign Missions' Committee of the Free
Church of Scotland, in accordance with the action of
the Day spring Committee at Sydney, have from the
first abstained from assisting Mr. Paton in this move-
ment, believing that the question is one entirely for
the Australian Churches."
At the meeting in the Assembly Hall of the Church
of Scotland, which, along with others, I was cordially
invited to address, the good and noble Lord Polwarth
occupied the chair. That was the beginning of a
friendship in Christ which will last and deepen as
long as we live. From that night he took the warmest
personal interest, not only by generously contributing
to my fund, but by organizing meetings at his own
Mansion House, and introducing me to a wide circle
of influential friends. Every member of his family
took " shares " in the new Steam-Auxiliary Mission
Ship, and by Collecting Cards and otherwise most
liberally aided me ; and that not at the start only,
but to the day of my departure, — one of the last
things put into my hand on leaving Britain being a
most handsome donation from Lord and Lady Pol-
warth to our Mission Fund, — " a thankoffering to the
Lord Jesus for precious health restored in answer
to the prayer of faith."
Nofj whilst the pen leads on my mind to recall
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 35 «
these Border memories, must I fail to record how
John Scott Dudgeon, Esq., Longnewton, a greatly
esteemed Elder of the Church, went from town to
town in all that region, and from Minister to Minister
arranging for me a series of happy meetings. I
shared also the hospitality of his beautiful Home,
and added himself and his much-beloved wife to the
precious roll of those who are dear for the Gospel's
sake and for their own.
Her Majesty's Commissioner to the General As-
sembly for the year was that distinguished Christian
as well as nobleman, the Earl of Aberdeen. He
graciously invited me to meet the Countess and him-
self at ancient Holyrood. After dinner he withdrew
himself for a lengthened time from the general com-
pany and entered into a close and interested conver-
sation about our Mission, and especially about the
threatened annexation of the New Hebrides by the
French.
There also I had the memorable pleasure of meet-
ing, and for a long while conversing with, that truly
noble and large-hearted lady, his mother, the much-
beloved Dowager Countess, well known for her life-
long devotion to so many schemes of Christian
philanthropy. At her own home, Alva House, she
afterwards arranged meetings for me, as well as in
Halls and Churches in the immediately surrounding
district ; and not only contributed most generously
of her own means, but interested many besides and
incited them to vie with each other in helping on our
352 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
cause. I was her guest during those days, and never
either in high or in humble station felt the ties of
true fellowship in Christ more closely drawn. De-
spite frost and snow, she accompanied me to almost
every meeting ; and her letters of interest in the
work, of sympathy, and of helpfulness, from time to
time received, were amongst the sustaining forces of
my spiritual life. When one sees noble rank thus
consecrating itself in humble and faithful service to
Jesus, there dawns upon the mind a glimpse of what
the prophet means, and of what the world will be
like, when it can be said regarding the Church of
God on Earth, — " Kings have become thy nursing
fathers, and their Queens thy nursing mothers."
My steps were next directed towards Ireland, im-
mediately after the Church meetings at Edinburgh ;
first to 'Derry, where the Presbyterian Assembly was
met in annual conclave, and thereafter to Belfast,
where the Pan-Presbyterian Council was shortly to
sit. The eloquent fervour of the Brethren at 'Derry
was like a refreshing breeze to my spirit ; I never
met Ministers anywhere, in all my travels, who
seemed more whole-hearted in their devotion to the
work which the Lord had given them to do.
But the excitement over the Organ and Hymn
question was too intense for me ; the debate threat-
ened to degenerate into a wrangle, and the marvellous
way in which a stick or an umbrella was flourished
occasionally by an impulsive speaker, to give action
to his eloquence, was not a little suggestive of blows
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 353
and broken heads. All ended quietly, however, and
the decision, though not final, gave hope of an early
settlement, which will secure alike the liberty and the
peace of the Church. A trip to the South Seas, and
a revelation of how God used the Harmonium and
the Hymn, as wings on which the Gospel was borne
into the homes and hearts of Cannibals, would have
opened the eyes of many dear fathers and brethren,
as it had opened mine ! No one was once more op-
posed, especially to instrumental music in the worship
of God, than I had been ; but the Lord who made us,
and who knows the nature He has given us, had long
ago taught me otherwise.
I addressed the Assembly at 'Deny and also the
Council at Belfast. The memory of seeing all those
great and learned and famous men — for many of the
leaders were literally such — so deeply interested in
the work of God, and particularly in the Evange-
lizing of the Heathen World and bringing thereto the
knowledge of Jesus, was to me, so long exiled from
all such influences, one of the great inspirations of
my life. I listened with humble thankfulness, and
blessed the Lord who had brought me to sit at theii
feet.
On the rising of the Council, I entered upon a
tour of six weeks among the Presbyterian Congre-
gations and Sabbath Schools of Ireland. It had
often been said to me, after my addresses in the
Assemblies and elsewhere, —
" How do you ever expect to raise £6,000 ? It
P. 23
354 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
can never be accomplished, unless you call upon the
rich individually, and get their larger subscriptions.
Our ordinary Church people have more than enough
to do with themselves. Trade is dull," etc.
I explained to them, and also announced publicly,
that in all similar efforts I had never called on or
solicited any one privately, and that I would not do
so now. I would make my appeal, but leave every-
thing else to be settled betwixt the individual con-
science and the Saviour, — I gladly receiving whatso-
ever was given or sent, acknowledging it by letter,
and duly forwarding it to my own Church in Vic-
toria. Again and again did generous souls offer to
go with me, introduce me, and give me opportunity
of soliciting subscriptions ; but I steadily refused, —
going, indeed, wherever an occasion was afforded me
of telling my story and setting forth the claims of
the Mission, but asking no one personally for any-
thing, having fixed my soul in the conviction that
one part of the work was laid upon me, but that the
other lay betwixt the Master and His servants ex-
clusively.
"On what then do you really rely, looking at it
from a business point of view ? " — they would some-
what appealingly ask me.
I answered, — " I will tell my story ; I will set forth
the claims of the Lord Jesus on the people ; I will
expect the surplus collection, or a retiring collection,
on Sabbaths ; I will ask the whole collection, less
expenses, at week night meetings ; I will issue Col-
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 355
lecting Cards for Sabbath Scholars ; I will make
known my Home-Address, to which everything may
be forwarded, either from Congregations or from
private donors; and 1 will go on, to my utmost
strength, in the faith that the Lord will send me the
£6,000 required. If He does not so send it, then
I shall expect that He will send me grace to be
reconciled to the disappointment, and I shall go back
to my work without the Ship."
This, in substance, I had to repeat hundreds of
times; and as often had I to witness the half-
pitying or incredulous smile with which it was re-
ceived, or to hear the blunt and emphatic retort, —
" You'll never succeed ! Money cannot be got in
that unbusiness-like way."
I generally added nothing further to such conver-
sations ; but a Voice, deep, sweet, and clear, kept
sounding through my soul, — "The silver and the
gold are Mine."
During the year 1884, as is well known, Ireland
was the scene of many commotions and of great
distress. Yet at the end of my little tour, amongst
the Presbyterian people of the North principally,
though not exclusively, a sum of more than £600
had been contributed to our Mission Fund. And
there was not, so far as my knowledge went, one
single large subscription ; there were, of course, many
bits of gold from those well-to-do, but the ordinary
collection was made up of the shillings and pence
of the masses of the people. Nor had I ever in all
356 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
my travels a warmer response, nor ever mingled
with any Ministers more earnestly devoted to their
Congregations or more generally and deservedly
beloved.
No man, however dissevered from the party
politics of the day, can see and live amongst the
Irish of the North, without having forced on his soul
the conviction that the Protestant faith and life, with
its grit and backbone and self-dependence, has made
them what they are. Romanism, on the other hand,
with its blind faith and its peculiar type of life, has
been at least one, if not the main, degrading influence
amongst the Irish of the South and West, who are
naturally a warm-hearted and generous and gifted
people. And let Christian Churches, and our States-
men who love Christ, remember — that no mere out-
ward changes of Government or Order, however good
and defensible in themselves, can ever heal the
miseries of the people, without a change of Religion.
Ireland needs the pure and true Gospel, proclaimed,
taught, and received, in the South as it now is in the
North ; and no other gift, that Britain ever can be-
stow, will make up for the lack of Christ's Evangel.
Jesus holds the Key to all problems, in this as in
every land.
Returning to Scotland, I settled down at my head-
quarters, the house of my brother James in Glasgow:
and thence began to open up the main line of my
operations, as the Lord day by day guided me.
Having the aid of no Committee, I cast myself on
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 357
Minister after Minister and Church after Church,
calling here, writing there, and arranging for three
meetings every Sabbath, and one, if possible, every
week-day, and drawing-room meetings wherever
practicable in the afternoons. My correspondence
grew to oppressive proportions, and kept me toiling
at it every spare moment from early morn till bed-
time. Indeed, I never could have overtaken it, had
not my brother devoted many days and hours of
precious time, answering letters regarding arrange-
ments, issuing the "Share " receipts for all moneys
the moment they arrived, managing all my trans-
actions through the bank, and generally tackling
and reducing the heap of communications and pre-
venting me falling into hopeless arrears.
I represented a Church in which all Presbyterians
are happily united ; and so, wherever possible, I
occupied on the same Sabbath day, an Established
Church pulpit in the morning, a Free Church in the
afternoon, and a United Presbyterian Church in the
evening, or in any order in which the thing could
be arranged to suit the exigences of every town or
village that was visited. In all my addresses, for I
nowhere attempted ordinary sermonizing, I strove to
combine the Evangelist with the Missionary, applying
every incident in my story to the conscience of the
hearer, and seeking to win the sinner to Christ, and
the believer to a more consecrated life. For I knew
that if I succeeded in these higher aims, their money
would be freely laid upon the altar too.
358 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
I printed, and circulated by post and otherwise,
ten thousand copies of a booklet, " Statement and
Appeal," — containing, besides my Victorian Com-
mission and my Glasgow address, a condensed
epitome of the results of the New Hebrides Mission
and of the reasons for asking a new Steam Auxiliary
Ship. To this chiefly is due the fact (as well as to
my refusing to call for subscriptions), that the far
greater portion of all the money came to me by
letter. On one day, though no doubt a little excep-
tional, as many as seventy communications reached
me by post ; and every one of these contained
something for our fund, — ranging from " a few
stamps" and "the widow's mite," through every
variety of figure up to the wealthy man's fifty or
hundred pounds. I was particularly struck with the
number of times that I received £i, with such a
note as, " From a servant-girl that loves the Lord
Jesus " ; or " From a servant-girl that prays for the
conversion of the Heathen." Again and again I
received sums of five and ten shillings, with notes
such as, — "From a working-man who loves his
Bible " ; or " From a working-man who prays for
God's blessing on you and work like yours, every
day in Family Worship." I sometimes regret that
the graphic, varied, and intensely interesting notes
and letters were not preserved ; for by the close of
my tour they would have formed a wonderful volume
of leaves from the human heart.
I also addressed every Religious Convention to
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 359
which I was invited, or to which I could secure
access. The Perth Conference was made memorable
to me by my receiving the first large subscription
for our Ship, and by my making the acquaintance of
a beautiful type of Christian merchant. At the
close of the meeting, at which I had the privilege
of speaking, an American gentleman introduced
himself to me. We talked and entered into each
other's confidence, as brothers in the Lord's service.
He had made a competency for himself and his
family, though only in the prime of life ; and he still
carried on a large and flourishing business — but
why? to devote the whole profits, year after year, to
the direct service of God and His cause among men!
He gave me a cheque for the largest single contri-
bution with which the Lord had yet cheered me.
God, who knows me, sees that I have never coveted
money for myself or my family ; but I did envy that
Christian merchant the joy that he had in having
money, and having the heart to use it as a steward
of the Lord Jesus ! Oh, when will men of wealth
learn this blessed secret, and, instead of hoarding up
gold till death forces it from their clutches, put it out
to usury now in the service of their Master, and see
the fruits and share the joy thereof, before they go
hence to give in their account to God ? One of the
most appalling features in the modern Christian
World, considering the needs of men and the claims
of Jesus, is this same practice of either spending all
for self, or hoarding all for self, alone or chiefly.
360 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
Christians who do so seem to stand in need of a great
deal of converting still !
Thereafter I was invited to the annual Christian
Conference at Dundee. A most peculiar experience
befell me there. Being asked to close the forenoon
meeting with prayer and the benediction, I offered
prayer, and then began — " May the love of God the
Father " but not another word would come in
English ; everything was blank except the words in
Aniwan, for I had long begun to think in the Native
tongue, and after a dead pause, and a painful silence,
I had to wind up with a simple " Amen ! " I sat
down wet with perspiration. It might have been
wiser, as the Chairman afterwards suggested, to have
given them the blessing in Aniwan, but I feared to
set them a-laughing by so strange a manifestation of
the " tongues." Worst of all, it had been announced
that I was to address them in the afternoon ; but who
would come to hear a Missionary that stuck in the
benediction ? The event had its semi-comical aspect,
but it sent me to my knees during the interval in a
very fever of prayerful anxiety. A vast audience
assembled, and if the Lord ever manifestly used me
in interesting His people in Missions, it was certainly
then and there. As I sat down, a devoted Free
Church Elder from Glasgow handed me his card,
with " I.O.U. ,£100." This was my first donation of a
hundred pounds, and my heart was greatly cheered.
I praised the Lord, and warmly thanked His servant
A Something kept sounding these words in my ears,
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 361
" My thoughts are not as your thoughts ; " and also,
" Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain
thee."
During my address at that meeting three coloured
girls, not unlike our Island girls, sat near the plat-
form, and eagerly listened to me. At the close, the
youngest, apparently about twelve years of age, rose,
salaamed to me in Indian fashion, took four silver
bangles from her arm, and presented them to me,
saying,—
" Padre, I want to take shares in your Mission
Ship by these bangles, for I have no money, and may
the Lord ever bless you ! "
I replied, — " Thank you, my dear child ; I will not
take your bangles, but Jesus will accept your offering,
and bless and reward you all the same."
As she still held them up to me, saying, " Padre,
do receive them from me, and may God ever bless
you ! " a lady, who had been seated beside her, came
up to me, and said, —
" Please, do take them, or the dear girl will break
her heart. She has offered them up to Jesus for your
Mission Ship."
I afterwards learned that the girls were orphans,
whose parents died in the famine ; that the lady and
her sister, daughters of a Missionary, had adopted
them to be trained as Zenana Missionaries, and that
they intended to return with them, and live and die
to aid them in that blessed work amongst the daugh-
ters of India. Oh, what a reward and joy might
362 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
many a lady who reads this page easily reap for her-
self in Time and Eternity by a similar simple yet
far-reaching service ! Take action when and where
God points the way ; wait for no one's guidance.
The most amazing variety characterized the gifts
and the givers. In Glasgow a lady sent me an anony-
mous note to this effect : —
11 1 have been curtailing my expenses. The first
£5 saved I enclose, that you may invest it for me in
the Bank of Jesus. I am sure He gives the best
interest, and the most certain returns."
From Edinburgh a lawyer wrote, saying, — " I here-
with send you £5. Take out for me two hundred
shares in the Mission Ship. I never made any in-
vestment with more genuine satisfaction in all my
life."
A gentleman, whose children had zealously col-
lected a considerable sum for me by the Cards, at
length sent me his own subscription, saying, — " I en-
close you ^25, because you have so interested my
children in Missions to the Heathen." The same
friend, after hearing me plead the cause in Free St
George's, Edinburgh, sent me a most encouraging
letter, and another contribution of £100.
In Glasgow a lady called at my brother's house,
saying, — " Is the Missionary at home ? Can I see him
alone ? If not, I will call again." Being asked into
my room, she declined to be seated, but said, — "I
heard you tell the story of your Mission in the City
Hall, and I have been praying for you ever since. I
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 363
have called to give you my mite, but not my name.
God bless you. We shall meet in Heaven ! " She
handed me an envelope, and was off almost before I
could thank her. It was £49 in bank notes.
Another dear Christian lady came to see me, and
at the close of a delightful conversation, said : " I
have been thinking much about you since I heard
you in the Clark Hall, Paisley. I have come to give
a little bit of dirty paper for your Ship. God sent
it to me, and I return it to God through you with
great pleasure." I thanked her warmly, thinking it
a pound, or five at the most ; on opening it, after
she was gone, it turned out to be £100. I felt bowed
down in humble thankfulness, and pressed forward
in the service of the Lord.
Another lady, who sent for me to call, said to me :
— " I have heard of the sufferings and losses of the
Missionaries on your Islands through the smallness
of the Sailing Vessel. I am glad to have the oppor-
tunity of giving you £50 to assist in getting a Steam
Auxiliary.
Many articles of jewellery, silver and gold orna-
ments, rings and chains, were also sent to me, or
dropped into the Collecting plate. With the assistance
of Christian gentlemen, and by the kindness of a
merchant at once interested in our work and in the
gold and silver trade, these were turned into cash
on the most advantageous possible terms, and added
to the Mission Fund.
Having an introduction to a London lady, then
364 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
living in Edinburgh, I called and was most kindly
received because of our dear mutual friend Mrs.
Cameron, of St. Kilda. After delightful Christian
conversation, she retired for a minute, and returned,
saying, — " I have kept this for twelve months, asking
the Lord to direct me as to its disposal. God claims
it now for the Mission Ship, and I have great joy
in handing it to you." It was another ,£100. I had
been praying all that afternoon for some token of
encouragement, especially as I went to that lady's
house, and God's extraordinary answer, even while
the prayer was still being uttered, struck me so
forcibly that I could not speak. I received her gift
in tears, and my soul looked up to the Giver of all.
The time now arrived for my attempting some-
thing amongst the Presbyterians of England. But
my heart sank within me ; I was a stranger to all
except Dr. Dykes, and the New Hebrides Mission
had no special claims on them. Casting myself upon
the Lord, I wrote to all the Presbyterian Ministers
in and around London, enclosing my " Statement
and Appeal," and asking a Service, with a retiring
collection, or the surplus above the usual collection
on behalf of our Mission Ship. All declined, except
two. I learned that the London Presbytery had
resolved that no claim beyond their own Church
was to be admitted into any of its pulpits for a
period of months, under some special financial emer-
gency. My dear friend, Dr. J. Hood Wilson, kindly
wrote also to a number of them on my behalf, but
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 365
with nearly similar result ; though at last other two
Services were arranged for with a collection, and
one without. Being required at London, in any case,
in connection with the threatened Annexation of
the New Hebrides by the French, I resolved to take
these five Services by the way, and immediately
return to Scotland, where engagements and oppor-
tunities were now pressed upon me, far more than I
could overtake. But the Lord Himself opened
before me a larger door, and more effectual, than any
that 1 had tried in vain to open up for myself.
The Churches to which I had access did nobly
indeed, and the Ministers treated me as a very
brother. Dr. Dykes most affectionately supported
my Appeal, and made himself recipient of donations
that might be sent for our Mission Ship. Dr. Donald
Fraser, and Messrs. Taylor and Mathieson, with their
Congregations, generously contributed to the fund.
And so did the Mission Church in Drury Lane — the
excellent and consecrated Rev. W. B. Alexander,
the pastor thereof, and his wife, becoming my devoted
personal friends, and continuing to remember in
their work-parties every year since the needs of the
Natives on the New Hebrides. Others also, whom
I cannot wait to specify, showed a warm interest in
us and in our department of the Lord's work. But
my heart had been foolishly set upon adding a large
sum to the fund for the Mission Ship, and when only
about £150 came from all the Churches in London
to which I could get access, no doubt I was sensible
366 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
of cherishing a little guilty disappointment. That
was very unworthy in me, considering all my pre-
vious experiences, and God deserved to be trusted
by me far differently, as the sequel will immediately
show.
That widely-known and deeply-beloved servant
of God, J. E. Mathieson, Esq., of the Mildmay Con-
ference Hall, had invited me to address one of their
annual meetings on behalf of Foreign Missions, and
also to be his guest while the Conference lasted.
Thereby I met and heard many godly and noble
disciples of the Lord, whom I could not otherwise
have reached though every Church I had asked in
London had been freely opened to me. These
devout and faithful and generous people, belonging
to every branch of the Church of Christ, and drawn
from every rank and class in Society, from the
humblest to the highest, were certainly amongst
the most open-hearted and the most responsive of
all whom I ever had the privilege to address. One
felt there, in a higher degree than almost anywhere
else, that every soul was on fire with love to Jesus
and with genuine devotion to His Cause in every
corner of the Earth. There it was a privilege and
a gladness to speak ; and though no collection was
asked or could be expected, my heart was uplifted
and strengthened by these happy meetings and by
all that Heavenly intercourse.
But see how the Lord leads us by a way we know
not ! Next morning after my address, a gentleman
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 367
who had heard me handed me a cheque for £300, by
far the largest single donation towards our Mission
Ship ; and immediately thereafter I received, from
one of the Mildmay lady-Missionaries £50, from a
venerable friend of the founder ^"20, from " Friends
at Mildmay " £30 ; and through my dear friend and
brother, J. E. Mathieson, many other donations were
in due course forwarded to me.
My introduction, however, to the Conference at
Mildmay did far more for me than even this ; it
opened up for me a series of drawing-room meetings
in and around London, where I told the story of our
Mission and preached the Gospel to many in the
higher walks of life, and received most liberal support
for the Mission Ship. It also brought me invitations
from many quarters of England, to Churches, to
Halls, and to County Houses and Mansions.
Lord Radstock got up a special meeting, inviting
by private card a large number of his most influential
friends ; and there I met for the first time one whom
I have since learned to regard as a very precious
personal friend, Rev. Sholto D. C. Douglas, clergyman
of the Church of England, who then, and afterwards
at his seat in Scotland, not only most liberally sup-
ported our fund, but took me by the hand as a
brother and promoted my work by every means in
his power.
The Earl and Countess of Tankerville also invited
me to Chillingham Castle, and gave me an oppor-
tunity of addressing a great assembly there, then
368 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
gathered together from all parts of the County. The
British and Foreign Bible Society received me in a
special meeting of the Directors ; and I was able
to tell them how all we the Missionaries of these
Islands, whose language had never before been re-
duced to writing, looked to them and leant upon
them and prayed for them and their work — without
whom our Native Bibles never could have been pub-
lished. After the meeting, the Chairman gave me
£$, and one of the Directors a cheque for £25 for our
Mission Ship.
I was also invited to Leicester, and made the
acquaintanceship of a godly and gifted servant of
the Lord Jesus, the Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. (now of
London), whose books and booklets on the higher
aspects of the Christian Life are read by tens of
thousands, and have been fruitful of blessing. There
I addressed great meetings of devoted workers in the
vineyard ; and the dear friend who was my host on
that occasion, a Christian merchant, has since con-
tributed £10 per annum for the support of a Native
Teacher on the New Hebrides.
It was my privilege also to visit and address the
Miiller Orphanages at Bristol, and to see that saintly
man of faith and prayer moving about as a wise and
loving father amongst the hundreds, even thousands,
that look to him for their daily bread and for the
bread of Life Eternal. At the close of my address,
the venerable founder thanked me warmly and
said, —
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 369
" Here are £50, which God has sent to me for your
Mission."
I replied, saying, — " Dear friend, how can I take it?
If I could, I would rather give you ^"500 for your
Orphans, for I am sure you need it all ! "
He replied, with sweetness and great dignity, —
' God provides for His own Orphans. This money
cannot be used for them. I must send it after you
by letter. It is the Lord's gift."
Often, as I have looked at the doings of men and
Churches, and tried to bring all to the test as if in
Christ's very presence, — it has appeared to me that
such work as Muller's, and Barnardo's, and that of
my own fellow-countryman, William Quarrier, must
be peculiarly dear to the heart of our blessed Lord.
And were He to visit this world again, and seek a
place where His very Spirit had most fully wrought
itself out into deeds, I fear that many of our so-called
Churches would deserve to be passed by, and that
His holy, tender, helpful, divinely-human love would
find its most perfect reflex in these Orphan Homes.
Still and for ever, amidst all changes of creed and of
climate, this, this is " pure and undefiled Religion "
before God and the Father !
Upper Norwood, London, is ever fresh in my
memory, in connection with my first and subsequent
visits, chiefly because of the faithful guidance and
help amidst all the perplexities of that Great Baby-
lon, so ungrudgingly bestowed upon me by my old
Australian friends, then resident there, William
P. 24
370 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
Storrie, Esq., and his most excellent wife, both
devoted workers in the cause of Missions abroad and
at home. Great kindness was shown to me also by
their Minister there; and by T. W. Stoughton, Esq.,
at whose Mission Hall there was a memorable and
joyful meeting ; and, amongst many others whom I
cannot here name, by Messrs. Morgan & Scott, of
the Christian, — all of whom I rejoiced to find
actively engaged in personal service to the Lord
Jesus.
But in this connection I must not omit to mention
that the noble and world-famous servant of God,
the Minister of the Tabernacle, invited me to a
garden-party at his home, and asked me to address
his students and other Christian workers. When I
arrived I found a goodly company assembled under
the shade of lovely trees, and felt the touch of that
genial humour, so mighty a gift when sanctified,
which has so often given wings to Mr. Spurgeon's
words, when he introduced me to the audience as
"the King of the Cannibals ! " On my leaving, Mrs.
Spurgeon presented me with her husband's "Trea-
sury of David," and also " £5 from the Lord's cows,"
which I learned was part of the profits from certain
cows kept by the good lady, and that everything
produced thereby was dedicated to the work of the
Lord. I praised God that He had privileged me to
meet this extraordinarily endowed man, to whom the
whole Christian World is so specially indebted, and
who has consecrated all his gifts and opportunities
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 37 1
to the proclamation of the pure and precious Gos-
pel.
But of all my London associations, the deepest
and the most imperishable is that which weaves itself
around the Honourable Ion Keith-Falconer, who
has already passed to what may truly be called
a Martyr's crown. At that time I met him at his
father-in-law's house at Trent; and on another oc-
casion spent a whole day with him at the house of
his noble mother, the Countess-Dowager of Kintore.
His soul was then full of his projected Mission to
the Arabs, being himself one of the most distin-
guished Orientalists of the day ; and as we talked
together, and exchanged experiences, I felt that
never before had I visibly marked the fire of God,
the holy passion to seek and to save the lost, burning
more steadily or brightly on the altar of any human
heart. The heroic founding of the Mission at Aden
is already one of the precious annals of the Church
of Christ. His young and devoted wife survives, to
mourn indeed, but also to cherish his noble memory ;
and, with the aid of others, and under the banner of
the Free Church of Scotland, to see the "Keith-
Falconer Mission " rising up amidst the darkness of
blood-stained Africa, as at once a harbour of refuge
for the slave, and a beacon-light to those who are
without God and without hope. The servant does
his day's work, and passes on through the gates of
sleep to the Happy Dawn ; but the Divine Master
lives and works and reigns, and by our death, as
372 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
surely as by our life, His holy purposes shall be
fulfilled.
On returning to Scotland, every day was crowded
with engagements for the weeks that remained, and
almost every mail brought me contributions from all
conceivable corners of the land. My heart was set
upon taking out two or three Missionaries with me
to claim more and still more of the Islands for
Christ ; and with that view I had addressed Divinity
Students at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.
Again and again, by conversation and correspond-
ence, consecrated young men were just on the
point of volunteering ; but again and again the
larger and better known fields of labour turned the
scale, and they finally decided for China or Africa
or India. Deeply disappointed at this, and thinking
that God directed us to look to our own Australia
alone for Missionaries for the New Hebrides, I re-
solved to return, and took steps towards securing a
passage by the Orient Line to Melbourne. But just
then two able and devoted students, Messrs. Morton
and Leggatt, offered themselves as Missionaries for our
Islands ; and shortly thereafter a third, Mr. Landells,
also an excellent man ; and all, being on the eve of
their Licence, were approved of, accepted, and set to
special preparations for the Mission field, particularly
in acquiring practical medical knowledge.
On this turn of affairs, I managed to have my
passage delayed for six weeks, and resolved to cast
myself on the Lord that He might enable me in
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 373
that time to raise at least .£500, in order to furnish
the necessary outfit and equipment for three new
Mission Stations, and to pay the passage money of
the Missionaries and their wives, that there might
be no difficulty on this score amongst the Foreign
Missions Committees on the other side. And then
the idea came forcibly, and for a little unmanned me,
that it was wrong in me to speak of these limits as
to time and money in my prayers to God. But I re-
flected, again, how it was for the Lord's own glory
alone in the salvation of the Heathen, and for no
personal aims of mine ; and so I fell back on His
promise, — "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My Name,"
— and believingly asked it in His Name, and for
His praise and service alone. I think it due to my
Lord, and for the encouragement of all His servants,
that I should briefly outline what occurred in answer
to these prayers.
Having gone to the centre of one of the great ship-
building districts of Scotland, and held a series of
meetings, and raised a sum of about £$$ only after
nine services and many Sabbath School collecting
cards, my heart was beginning to sink, as I did not
think my health would stand another six weeks of
incessant strain ; when at the close of my last meet-
ing in a Free Church, an Elder and his wife entered
the vestry and said, —
" We are deeply interested in you and in all your
work and plans. You say that you have asked .£500
more. We gave you the first £100 at the Dundee
374 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
Conference ; and it is a joy to us to give you this
;£ioo too, towards the making up of your final sum.
We pray that you may speedily realize your wish, and
that God's richest blessing may ever rest upon your
head."
Glasgow readers will at once recognise the generous
giver, J. Campbell White, Esq., who rejoices, along
with his dear wife, to regard himself as a steward
of the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that they, and all
such, may feel more and more "blessed in their
deeds."
Another week passed by, and at the close of it a
lady called upon me, and, after delightful conversa-
tion about the Mission, said, —
" How near are you to the sum required ? " I ex-
plained to her what is recorded above, and she con-
tinued, " I gave you one little piece of paper, at the
beginning of your efforts. I have prayed for you
every day since. God has prospered me, and this is
one of the happiest moments of my life, when I am
now able to give you another little bit of paper."
So saying, she put into my hand £100. I pro-
tested,— "You are surely too generous. Can you
afford a second .£100?"
She replied to this effect, and very joyfully, as one
who had genuine gladness in the deed, — " My Lord
has been very kind to me, in my health and in my
business. My wants are simple and are safe in His
hands. I wait not till death forces me, but give back
whatever I am able to the Lord now, and hope to
A^AiT VISIT TO BRII'AIN. 375
live to see much blessing thereby through you in the
conversion of the Heathen."
The name of that dear friend from Paisley rises
often in my prayers and meditations before God.
" Verily I say unto you, the Father that seeth in
secret shall reward openly."
My last week had come, and I was in the midst of
preparations for departure, when amongst the letters
delivered to me was one to this effect, —
" Restitution money which never now can be re-
turned to its owner. Since my Conversion I have
laboured hard to save it. I now make my only
possible amends by returning it to God through you.
Pray for me and mine, and may God bless you in
your work ! " I rather startled my brother and
his wife at our breakfast table by shouting out
in unwontedly excited tones, — " Hallelujah ! The
Lord has done it ! Hallelujah ! " But my tones
softened down into intense reverence, and my words
broke at last into tears, when I found that this,
the second largest subscription ever received by me,
came from a converted tradesman, who had now
consecrated his all to the Lord Jesus, and whose
whole leisure was now centred upon seeking to bless
and save those of his own rank and class, amongst
whom he had spent his early and unconverted days.
Jesus saith unto him, " Go home to thy friends, and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for
thee, and hath had compassion on thee."
Bidding farewell to dear old Glasgow, so closely
3?6 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
intertwined with all my earlier and later experiences
I started for London, accompained by my brother
James. We were sitting at breakfast at Mrs. Mathie-
son's table, Mildmay, when a telegram was put into
my hands announcing the " thank-offering " from
Lord and Lady Polwarth, received since our depar-
ture from Glasgow, and referred to on an earlier page.
The Lord had now literally exceeded my prayers.
With other gifts, repeated again by friends at Mild-
may, the special fund for outfit and travelling ex-
penses for new Missionaries had risen above the
£500, and now approached £6$o.
In a Farewell Meeting at Mildmay the Lord's
servants assembled in great numbers from all quarters
of London, dedicated me and my work very solemnly
to God, amid songs of praise and many prayers and
touching " last " words. And when at length Mr.
Mathieson, intimating that I must go, as another
company of Christian workers were elsewhere wait-
ing also to say Goodbye, suggested that the whole
audience should stand up, and, instead of hand
shaking, quietly breathe their benedictory Farewell
as I passed from the platform down through their
great Hall, a perfect flood of emotion overwhelmed
me. I never felt a humbler man, nor more anxious
to hide my head in the dust, than when all these
noble, gifted, and beloved followers of Jesus Christ
and consecrated workers in His service, stood up and
with one heart said, " God speed " and " God bless
you," as 1 passed on through the Hall. To one who had
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 377
striven and suffered less, or who less appreciated how
little we can do for others compared with what Jesus
had done for us, this scene might have ministered to
spiritual pride ; but long ere I reached the f oor of
that Hall, my soul was already prostrated at the feet
of my Lord in sorrow and in shame that I had done
so little for Him, and I bowed my head and could
have gladly bowed my knees to cry, " Not unto us,
Lord, not unto us ! "
On the 28th October, 1885, I sailed for Melbourne,
and in due course safely arrived there by the good-
ness of God. The Church and people of my own
beloved Victoria gave me a right joyful welcome, and
in public assembly presented me with a testimonial,
which I shrank from receiving, but which all the
same was the highly-prized expression of their con-
fidence and esteem.
In my absence at the Islands, they thereafter
elected me Moderator of their Supreme Court, and
called me back to fill that highest Chair of honour
in the Presbyterian Church. God is my witness how
very little any or all of these things in themselves
ever have been coveted by me ; but how, when they
have come in my way, I have embraced them with a
single desire thereby to promote the Church's in-
terest in that Cause to which my whole life and all
my opportunities are consecrated, — the Conversion of
the Heathen World.
My Mission to Britain was to raise £6,000, in
order to enable the Australian Churches to provide a
378 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
Steam Auxiliary Mission Ship, for the enlarged
and constantly enlarging requirements of the New
Hebrides. I spent exactly eighteen months at home;
and when I returned, I was enabled to hand over to
the Church that had commissioned and authorized
me no less a sum than ^9,000. And all this had
been forwarded to me, as the free-will offerings of
the Lord's stewards, in the manner illustrated by
the preceding pages. " Behold ! what God hath
wrought ! "
Of this sum ^6,000 are set apart to build or acquire
the new Mission Ship. The remainder is added to
what we call our Number II. Fund, for the mainten-
ance and equipment of additional Missionaries. It
has been the dream of my life to see one Missionary
at least planted on every Island of the New Hebrides,
and then I could lie down and whisper gladly,
" Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in
peace ! "
As to the new Mission Ship, delay has arisen —
owing to a difference of opinion about the best way
of carrying out the proposal. Negotiations are pro-
gressing betwixt New South Wales and Victoria and
the other Colonies as to the additional annual expen-
diture for the maintenance of a Steam-Auxiliary, and
how the same is to be allocated. Also, an element
of doubt and perplexity has been introduced into the
scheme by the possibility of the Government running
Mails regularly from Australia to Fiji, and calling at
one or other of the New Hebrides harbours, — in
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 379
which case some think the Missionaries would need
only an inter-island Steamer, of a comparatively
moderate tonnage. Meantime, let all friends who are
interested in us and our work understand — that the
money so generously entrusted to me has been safely
handed over to my Victorian Church, and has been
deposited by them at good interest in the bank,
pending the settlement of these business details.
To me personally, this delay is confessedly a keen
and deep disappointment, — feeling strongly as I do,
and seeing more clearly every day, the waste and
suffering caused to our beloved Missionaries and their
families, by the uncertainties of a Sailing Ship, and by
the utter inability of our present Dayspring to over-
take all that is now required. But this is not the
place to discuss that matter in detail. The work
laid upon me has been accomplished. The Colonial
Churches have all the responsibility of the further
steps. In this, as in many a harder trouble of my
chequered life, I calmly roll all my burden upon the
Lord. I await with quietness and confidence His
wise disposal of events. His hand is on the helm ;
and whither He steers us, all shall be well.
But let me not close this chapter, till I have struck
another and a Diviner note. I have been to the Is-
lands again, since my return from Britain. The whole
inhabitants of Aniwa were there to welcome me, and
my procession to the old Mission House was more
like the triumphal march of a Conqueror than that
of a humble Missionary. Everything was kept in
380 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
beautiful and perfect order. Every Service of the
Church, as previously described in this book, was
fully sustained by the Native Teachers, the Elders,
and the occasional visit, once or twice a year, of the
ordained white Missionary from one of the other
Islands. Aniwa, like Aneityum, is a Christian land.
Jesus has taken possession, never again to quit those
shores. Glory, glory to His blessed Name!
*****
When pleading the cause of the Heathen and the
claims of Jesus on His followers, I have often been
taunted with being " a man of one idea." Sometimes
I have thought that this came from the lips of those
who had not even one idea ! — unless it were how to
kill time or to save their own skin. But seriously
speaking, is it not better to have one good idea and
to live for that and succeed in it, than to scatter one's
life away on many things and leave a mark on
none ?
And, besides, you cannot live for one good idea
supremely without thereby helping forward many
other collateral causes. My life has been domin-
ated by one sacred purpose ; but in pursuing it the
Lord has enabled me to be Evangelist as well as
Missionary, and whilst seeking for needed money to
seek for and save and bless many souls, — has enabled
me to defend the Holy Sabbath in many lands, as
the God-given and precious birthright of the toiling
millions, to be bartered away for no price or bribe
that men can offer, — has enabled me to maintain the
LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. 381
right of every child in Christian lands, or in Heathen,
to be taught to read the blessed Bible and to un-
derstand it, as the Divine foundation of all Social
Order and the sole guarantee of individual freedom
as well as of national greatness, — and has enabled me
also to do battle against the infernal Kanaka or
Labour Traffic, one of the most cruel and blood-
stained forms of slavery on the face of the Earth,
and to rouse the holy passion of Human Brother-
hood in the Colonies and at Home against those
who trafficked in the bodies and souls of men.
In these, as well as in my own direct labours as a
Missionary, I probably have had my full share of
"abuse" from the enemies of the Cross, and a not
inconsiderable burden of trials and afflictions in the
service of my Lord ; yet here, as I lay down my pen,
let me record my immovable conviction that this is
the noblest service in which any human being can
spend or be spent ; and that, if God gave me back
my life to be lived over again, I would without one
quiver of hesitation lay it on the altar to Christ, that
He might use it as before in similar ministries of
love, especially amongst those who have never yet
heard the Name of Jesus. Nothing that has been
endured, and nothing that can now befall me, makes
me tremble — on the contrary, I deeply rejoice — when
I breathe the prayer that it may please the blessed
Lord to turn the hearts of all my children to the
Mission field ; and that He may open up their way
and make it their pride and joy to live and die in
3S2 LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN.
carrying Jesus and His Gospel into the heart of the
Heathen World ! God gave His best, His Son, to
me ; and I give back my best, my All, to Him.
Reader, Fare-thee-well ! Thou hast companied
with me, — not without some little profit, I trust ; and
not without noting many things that led thee to bless
the Lord God, in whose honour these pages have
been written. In your life and in mine, there is at
least one last Chapter, one final Scene, awaiting us,
— God our Father knows where and how ! By His
grace, I will live out that Chapter, I will pass through
that Scene, in the faith and in the hope of Jesus, who
has sustained me from childhood till now. As you
close this book, go before your Saviour, and pledge
yourself upon your knees by His help and sympathy
to do the same. And let me meet you, and let us
commune with each other again, in the presence and
glory of the Redeemer. Fare-thee-well!
Date Due
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